Certain Things
by makingmemories
Summary: Sophie has never had a perfect life but finally things seem to go her way until everything she has is gone. When she thinks things can't get any worse, they do. Can she find someone to help her through? Or will she push them away? Other characters mentioned in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Certain Things – Chapter 1**

**Sorry for not posting for a while, been busy with Christmas and exams. I have written three versions of this and I have decided this is the one I want to go for, I hope you like it. **

**In this FF Tom never died and it is set in series 9, sorry for any confusion.**

**The parents are called Steven and Julia Taylor.**

**Please review, follow and favourite!**

A tall girl stood looking up at her new house holding the last cardboard box, her long blonde hair blowing back in the winter wind revealing her simple face. The girl's father brought her out of her daydream. "Come on hurry up, we are meeting Tom in town" The girl sighed and walked into the house through their bright blue front door stepping up the concrete step onto the 'welcome' matt. She walked up the stairs with her final box and placed it onto her white wooden double bed; she glanced around her white washed room and sighed.

An hour later after the girl had unpacked all her boxes and had gotten changed her dad shouted up the stairs. "Sophie Taylor, I will not tell you again" He sighed as Sophie walked down the stairs trailing her delicate hand along the banister. "Tom will be waiting"

Sophie and her parents were going to meet their close friend, Tom Clarkson. Sophie had known him for nearly ten years and they were extremely close, he was the reason they moved here. He suggested Waterloo Road. "Why do we even have to go out tonight?" Sophie's parents rolled their eyes at each other as they walked out to their shiny black car parked on their stoned drive.

Ten minutes later they arrived at the pub in the centre of Greenock; Sophie got out of the car and put on a smile as they walked into the pub. They walked over to the table where Tom was sitting and he got up and gave her dad a 'man hug' and he kissed her mums cheek and gave Sophie a quick hug before they all sat down around the table in the corner.

After about twenty minutes of their food arriving Tom, Steven and Julie were laughing and getting loud after having a few drinks, Sophie was sitting in silence with her head down flicking some peas around her plate.

Sophie's mum noticed Sophie behaving quietly, Sophie has always had a hard time dealing with her emotions and she often lashes out when things get too much. "Sophie, are you alright?" Sophie looked up to her mum nodding and giving her a weak smile.

"She is probably nervous, new school and all. Look Soph Waterloo Road isn't bad at all, the majority of the students are actually really nice" Tom looked at Sophie and smiled at her, she didn't smile back she pushed her chair out from under her and walked out of the pub.

"Steven should I go after her?" Sophie's mum was worried about her, she never snaps at Tom and she didn't understand why she did it. Sophie's dad shook his head telling her mum that she will be fine, just nervous about tomorrow.

-x-

The next morning Sophie stood looking up at Waterloo Road through the painted red railings with her blonde hair gently blowing behind her. She looked across the chaotic yard with her angelic blue eyes and took a deep breath before striding across the yard in her Chelsea boots towards the door.

As Sophie walked through the corridors trying to find her way to the head teacher's office she bumped into a tall girl with blonde curly hair, flash eyelashes, red lipstick and a 'designer' handbag.

"Oi watch where you're going, this bag costs more than you're worth" The girl's strong Liverpudlian accent shocked Sophie, as they were in Scotland. Sophie simply rolled her eyes and pushed past the girl and continued to walk to the head teacher's office as the girl shouted down the corridors to Sophie.

Sophie opened a green door and she was faced with a perky woman sitting at the desk filing her long, bright pink nails. She smiled up at Sophie revealing her lipstick stained teen, causing Sophie to smirk slightly. "Hi, I am new. Sophie Taylor"

The woman nodded to Sophie and turned around on her chair and tapped on the glass window causing another woman with a shirt blonde bob to look up from her piles of paperwork. She walked across the office and swung her office door open, Sophie smiled up to her. "Hello I am Ms Mulgrew, the head teacher. Sophie?"

Sophie nodded and Christine stepped aside allowing Sophie access to her office, Sophie slowly walked in and glanced around the very professional office. Christine pointed at a black leather chair opposite her desk, Sophie slowly sat down on it placing her bag down to the side. Sophie's heart was beating faster than usual as Christine talked to her about the schools aims and goals, Sophie nodding along with each word. Christine handed Sophie her timetable, Sophie quickly scanned the paper before bringing her attention back to Christine.

"Unless you have any questions you could head to your first lesson" Christine placed her hands onto the desk and stood up walking towards the door as Sophie shook her head.

"Thank you Miss" Sophie smiled as she left the office and walked into the crowded corridor, she quickly stepped back as a boy ran down the corridor getting chased by another boy. Sophie looked down at her first lesson, double-English with Mr T Clarkson. Sophie sighed not knowing if she was happy about her parent's best friend being her English teacher. Her long blonde hair was flowing down her back, slightly blowing back as she increased her pace as her heeled Chelsea boots clicked on the floor as she walked down the corridor.

She finally arrived at a classroom, not sure if it was the right one as the signs weren't very helpful. Sophie turned to her side to look at the nearest person it was a tall boy with brown floppy hair and a cheeky smile. Sophie tapped the boy on his shoulder and he quickly turned around smiling at her. "Sorry but I am new, this is Clarkson's classroom right?"

The boy nodded and smiled down at Sophie. "Yeah this is it, I am Kevin Chalk by the way" Sophie smiled and introduced herself to Kevin. They both got chatting until Tom opened the door and the classroom soon filled up with moaning teenagers.

Sophie was strolling behind, knowing that people will already have friends to sit with and she was planning on sitting in the last seat, so she was trying to be last in. As she walked past Tom she tried to avoid eye contact, she felt like an idiot after storming out of dinner last night. Tom stopped her before she had the chance to walk over to a desk. "So Soph have you calmed down yet?" Sophie rolled her eyes and let out a slight giggle, she turned around and saw Kevin looking up at her she walked over and sat down next to him.

Kevin and Sophie got to know each other throughout the double lesson, Kevin being quite impressed by Sophie. Sophie laughed most of the lesson at some of the stories Kevin told her about what has happened in Waterloo Road, this made Sophie feel at ease. The lesson didn't drag and by the end Sophie decided it wasn't too bad having her parent's best friend as a teacher.

-x-

The end of the day came and Sophie was walking down the corridor with Kevin, both heading home after finding out they lived near each other. Sophie hadn't stopped smiling and laughing all day as Kevin informed her what her life would be like at Waterloo Road. Sophie's tracks are cut short as the tall blonde girl from this morning was standing in her way.

Sophie rolled her eyes and sighed at her presence. "Move out of the way"

The girl stepped forward and looked down at Sophie. "The name's Dynasty Barry and you need to learn where you stand around here, us Barry's being above you" Sophie laughed in disbelief, were these words actually coming out of these girls mouth?

Sophie replied back in a slow and sarcastic tone. "Oh sorry Dynasty Barry, didn't realise I'd be meeting the royalty of Waterloo Road on my first day. Shame she's a tart" Kevin bite his lip trying to hold back his laugh, causing an evil stare in his direction. Sophie kept her sarcastic grin on her face as she looked up to Dynasty.

Dynasty stepped forward waving her hand in Sophie's face. "You better watch what you're saying because I'd hate you to say something you'd regret" Dynasty was shouting now causing some of the other students to walk over surrounding the two girls.

Sophie looked totally calm with Dynasty as she waved her French manicured nails in her face, Sophie still grinning up at her. Sophie grabbed Dynasty's wrist and pushed it away from her face causing Dynasty to step backwards regaining her balance on her heels looking in shock at Sophie. Sophie didn't notice Tom arrive in the group of students trying to push his way to the middle, most were chanting fight by now.

"Right you two knock it off" Tom hadn't really looked at the faces but when he saw Sophie's face his dropped. "Calm down and go home" Dynasty sighed and turned around on her heels and stropped off out of the school door walking towards her younger sister.

Kevin and Sophie both turned to each other, laughing not aware that Tom was still standing next to them. They walked towards the door until Sophie found Tom's hand on her shoulder. She sighed and smiled at Kevin who nodded at her. Sophie turned around to face the teacher. "Soph, it isn't a good idea getting in a fight on your first day. Especially with a Barry"

Sophie held back her laugh. "Tom there was hardly a fight, she was just being a brat and barking orders at me I didn't do anything, promise" Tom looked at Sophie, trying to hold back his laugh at Dynasty's reaction. "I know you're dying to laugh, I don't think she likes me very much"

Tom sighed and let out a slight a laugh. "Soph I told your dad I would look after you and make sure nothing bad happens to you here" Sophie rolled her eyes. "Just promise me you'll stay away from the Barry's believe me you don't want to mess with them"

**Not sure about this start, sorry it wasn't very exciting. I am going to try and not doubt my writing so much but it is hard because I always find mistakes. I hope you like this chapter, please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – Certain Things**

**Thank you for reading my first chapter, I hope you liked it! As always please follow, favourite and review. I love reading them, good or bad. Sorry this is quite long, I apologise for the ending I couldn't really describe something that has never happened to me before.**

**Hope you like this chapter.**

It was the end of Sophie's second week at Waterloo Road and she had already made friends and enemies, mainly the Barry's. Sophie woke up to the sound of her alarm buzzing along her bed side table. She swung her arm off her bed and her cold hand hit the alarm with some force, causing it fall over. Sophie sat up and rubbed her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair, she stood up out of bed and pulled the hair tie from around her wrist and pulled her hair back into a bun as she walked into the bathroom. Sophie quickly washed her face and the cold water took her breath away as it touched her delicate skin. Once she was ready she walked downstairs and into the kitchen to her mum and dad sitting around the kitchen table in their suits opening the post.

Sophie walked up to her parents in her black skater skirt, lose tie and her long flowing hair, she was a polar opposite to her parents. Sophie wasn't a bad behaved teenager but she liked to push the boundaries. Sophie handed her parents an envelope and smiled as the accepted it. "Happy Anniversary"

After Sophie had eaten her breakfast she stood up and put her crumb filled plate into the dishwasher and walked over to her bag putting in her books, she swung it over her shoulder and said 'goodbye' to her parents. As she was walking out of the kitchen her dad called her back. "Sophie remember to tell Tom that the party starts at five"

Sophie smiled and nodded; she walked out of the house and plugged in her headphones drowning out the world. The wind started to pick up as she walked across the yard and doing what she was told and avoided the Barry's. She walked into the school and towards the Common Room, she opened the door and scanned the room and saw Kevin sitting in the corner surrounded by science textbooks. Sophie rolled her eyes as she put her headphones into her bag and walked over to her friends table. "Kevin what are you doing?

Kevin looked up from his textbook and smiled to Sophie before looking back down again. "I heard Miss Spark telling Mulgrew about a test" Sophie sighed and took one of Kevin's books and started reading. The revision soon stopped as Imogen and Connor arrived and Sophie and Kevin closed their books and started planning what they were going to do this weekend.

"So we will meet at mine around six tonight?" Imogen looked around at her friends faces, Sophie quickly remembered that she couldn't go out.

"I am sorry, I can't do anything this weekend, it is my parents anniversary and they are having this big party tonight and we are going out for a meal tomorrow" Sophie sighed as she stood up from her friends. "I have to go pick something up from my locker; I will see you in science"

Sophie walked out if the Common Room and walked towards her locker, she passed Barry Barry and his eyes followed her as she walked past him. Sophie stood in front of her locker putting some books into it. Barry strutted up to Sophie's locker and leant against the wall; Sophie closed her locker, still unaware of Barry's presence, and jumped slightly as she sees Barry smirking up at her rubbing his stubble on his chin. Sophie rolled her eyes at the boy and quickly turned around remembering what Tom told her, as she turns away from him he jumps off the wall and grabs her arm. Sophie looks down at Barry's hand clenched around her arm and she turns around to face him, he doesn't let go of her arm though he pulls her towards him.

"Now you listen and you listen well. Stay away from my family because you don't know who you are messing with" Sophie felt his harsh breath run over her face, her breathing increased and her chest rose with each breath. "If I need to I could get rid of you because I know all about you and your past, so stay away from my family" Barry let go of Sophie and gently pulled down her blazer, making her look presentable. "Got that?" Sophie gave Barry a nod and walked away from, thinking about what he just said.

_I know all about you and your past._

-x-

Kevin, Imogen and Connor was standing outside of science waiting for their teacher, Sophie walked out of the toilets and ran her fingers through her hair she took a deep breath and walked up to her friends smiling at them. The class walked into the classroom and was greeted by a stressed out Sue Spark; she walked around each desk handing out the surprise test to each moaning teenager.

"Miss this isn't fair you can't make us do this test, we need time to prepare" Imogen spoke to Sue in a stern and confident tone, she looked at Connor, Kevin and Sophie for support the two boys nodded while Sophie sat staring at the desk as her hands shook violently.

"Well Imogen you should be doing revision anyway" Sue spat back at Imogen, who sank into her seat feeling slightly defeated.

Throughout the entire test Sophie couldn't concentrate because Barry continued his gaze on her, she kept catching his eye expecting him to look away but he didn't he just waved slightly at her, causing Sophie to get angry. Sophie was getting uncomfortable as his eyes burned into her skin; she started to fidget in her seat to Barry's delight. He knew he was getting into her head, he liked this.

Kevin looked up to Sophie who had turned pale ad her eyes were filled with tears. "Sophie, are you alright" Sophie jumped slightly as Kevin whispered into her ear. She glanced to Barry then back at Kevin nodding and giving him a weak smile.

Sophie looked up at the clock on the wall as the bell went, she quickly pushed her chair back standing up picking up her bag and exiting the classroom quickly, ignoring the shouts from Sue. She pushed past Kevin, who realised something was wrong and he looked back to Barry who was smirking to himself and he strutted up to Dynasty as the pair smirked deviously at Kevin.

Kevin walked down the corridor towards his next lesson, English, he thought about going to find Sophie but just as he was about to walk away from his class Tom appeared at the door. "Come on Kevin, classrooms this way" Kevin looked down the corridor then back to Tom he sighed as he walked into the classroom, his eyes darted around the room and there was no Sophie. Tom was doing the register and he got to Sophie's name. "Sophie?" There was no answer, just a few murmurs. "Has anybody seen Sophie?"

Dynasty grinned to the girl next to her. "Sir, she stormed out of science. She was in a right state wasn't she Kevin?" Dynasty knew that asking Kevin would get him angry.

Imogen spoke up before Kevin would say something he would later regret. "No, she didn't storm out of lesson. The bell went and she left because she wasn't feeling very well" Tom nodded at the girls and proceeded with the lesson.

About ten minutes into the lesson Sophie walked into the classroom as Tom was standing at the front reading a passage from a poem they were studying. "Sorry for being late Sir"

"It's ok, just sit down please" Tom smiled at Sophie who was still pale and he noticed that her hands were shaking; Sophie looked up to Tom and quickly avoided eye contact. She walked over to Kevin and sat down next to him.

"Sophie are you alright, what happened?" Kevin put his hand onto Sophie's shoulder; she quickly brushes it off and looked down at the desk.

The end of the lesson came and Sophie quickly stood up, trying to leave the classroom before Dynasty. "Soph wait I want to talk to you" She sighed and swallowed turning around to Tom raising her head to try and hide her feelings. Once everyone had left Tom closed the door and leaned against the desk opposite Sophie with his hands folded across his chest. "So why were you late?" Sophie didn't respond. "Why did you storm out of science then?"

Sophie snapped and threw her hands down to her side. "I didn't storm out!"

"Come on Soph calm down, what is going on?" He looked at Sophie's face which had a tear falling down it, he sighed he hated seeing her like this. "Has it got something to do with the Barry's? I told you to stay away from them for a reason"

Sophie looked up at Tom straight into his eyes. "Tom I did stay away from them, I swear. But Barry came and found me before science warning me to stay away from his family" Sophie's fists clenched and her speech was getting faster. "He knows about my past, he says he can get rid of me"

Tom's face dropped, he didn't understand how Barry could have known about her past. He knew Barry was a lot of things but he can't have been involved in that. "Soph listen to me, it will be ok"

"How do you know that? We moved here to get away from the past. You know how bad it got and I can't go back there Tom, I won't do that to mum and dad." Sophie turned around and started to kick and punch the wall, Tom jumped off his desk and stepped over to Sophie wrapping his arms around her pulling her away from the wall, he had seen her like this before and he wasn't going to let it happen to her again.

Sophie collapsed into his chest; her whole body was shaking with fear. "Calm down, you are safe now. Nobody if going to hurt you, its ok" Sophie took a deep breath and pulled away from Tom, she pulled her hair behind her ears and smiled up at Tom masking her emotions. Tom could never understand how she did it so well, she always had. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I will be. I'm always ok in the end" She smiled up to Tom and picked up her bag putting it over her shoulder, acting like nothing had just happened. "Oh dad told me to tell you that the party starts at five"

Tom grinned at Sophie; she was back to her normal self. "Right I will see you then" Tom laughed as Sophie walked out of the classroom; she walked towards the canteen ignoring the throbbing pain that was in her hands.

-x-

Sophie and Kevin were walking home, neither really talking. Sophie was looking down to the ground watching as she took each step, like it was the first time she had walked and she was scared of falling over. "Sophie what is going on between you and the Barry's?"

Sophie sighed and she stopped in the pavement and turned to look at Kevin, she took his hand and she held it in hers. "Barry threatened me to keep away from his family or he will reveal my past and get rid of me"

Kevin scrunched up his face slightly, trying to process what Sophie just said and what he should say now. "What past?" Sophie looked down at the floor and closed her eyes thinking about what she should say; she looked back up at Kevin looking him straight into his eyes.

"Look Kevin you can't tell anyone what I am about to tell you, I am trusting you here." Kevin nodded urging her to carry on. "There was a reason I moved her I had to get away from Manchester, it was too dangerous. The only family I have now is my mum and dad but I used to have a brother, he hit my mum and me. He has gone to prison now but I think he will be released soon and I am on edge because he has mates and they said they would always come and find us. I don't know if Barry is one of his mates but I got scared. Kevin my parents fell apart, my mum had a nervous breakdown and my dad turned to the drink, I was completely alone Tom helped them get better and suggested we move here, so we did."

She sighed and to her surprise smiled, she felt like she had just had the weight of the world lifted off of her. Kevin stood in shock not sure what to say, the only thing he can think to say is to go over what he was just told. "So your brother went to prison for beating you and your mum?"

Sophie looked away from Kevin and to the floor, she let go of his hand and turned her head slightly. "Not exactly, nobody but you knows that he hit me, his mates never got arrested because they didn't touch my mum, but they didn't just beat me Kevin"

"Sophie why doesn't anyone know about what they did to you?" Kevin's voice was full of panic; he stepped closer to Sophie bending his knees slightly so he could be at her eye level.

"Nobody asked" Sophie said it so calmly, like it was nothing. Kevin couldn't believe what he was just told. Kevin pulled Sophie into his arms, she was so calm but inside she was crying. Sophie was good at good at hiding her emotions; she has had a lot of practice.

-x-

Just before five Sophie and her parents pulled up outside of a hotel, they walked into the reception hall where their party was being held. Sophie's mum was wearing a skin tight silver dress that ended just below the knee with a pair of killer heels, her dad was wearing navy jeans and a grey polo shirt. Sophie was feeling underdressed as usual in her leather look jeans, burgundy tee and tasselled Chelsea boots. Sophie thought the venue was a bit much, but her parents had been married seventeen years, having Sophie the same year they born.

Soon most of the guests had arrived and Sophie found herself moving further and further to the open bar, once the hall was pretty full Sophie turned around and walked towards the table. She picked up the large glass of whiskey, she caught a boy looking her up and down and she took a quick swig of the alcohol that burned her throat and walked over to her parents table.

Sophie glanced around the room and found her parents standing alone, she put the empty whiskey glass down and picked up a Diet Coke and smiled as she walked over to her parents. Just as Sophie stepped in front of her parents Tom walked through the door and he hugged her parents, handing them a bottle of wine. Sophie brought her glass up to her lips and began to sip, trying to avoid eye conversation with Tom, she didn't want him to mention the Barry's to her parents.

Tom turned to Sophie and gave her a hug, he stood with his arm wrapped over her shoulder and faced her parents. "So are you happy about your mum and dad making it seventeen years?" Sophie laughed and nodded, smiling at her parents. She looked at Tom who knew what she was thinking and gave her a nod, telling her what she wanted to hear.

The night dragged as Sophie moved from corner to corner, by the end of the night she was sat in the corner texting Imogen. She looked up as her dad was standing in front of her. "Come on, time to go" She smiled and stood up walking out of the building sliding her phone back into her pocket as her hair blew back in the cold February winds. Her parents got into the front and she slid into the back, yawning and lay back into her seat.

Her mum quickly turned around as her dad pulled out of the car park. "Sophie what was wrong with you tonight? You were rude to Tom and you just sat in the corner all night" Her mum's voice was harsh and she was clearly angry with her.

Sophie rolled her eyes and sat forward, replying in the same angry tone. "Oh I'm sorry, what was I supposed to do? Walk around with you meeting all your stuck friends?"

Sophie's dad looked into the rear view mirror at Sophie. "Right that's enough young lady, calm yourself down. Your mum is right, you should have been with us and you have clearly been drinking"

Sophie screamed back at her dad. "That's right stick up for her, like you always do. I had one drink, one drink at the beginning of the night" Her parents rolled their eyes at Sophie.

Suddenly, the car spun out of control Sophie's dad struggled to keep control of the steering wheel as they spun out onto oncoming traffic. The car filled with screams as another car smashed into Sophie's side and she is thrown up off her seat and the car flips onto its roof. It all went deathly silent straight after the impact, Sophie could feel blood coming from her body but she had idea where, she turned her head as she saw a bright white light come streaming towards her. Out of nowhere a lorry came hurdling towards their overturned car and smashes into them, pushing the car along the motor way. They car was left lying on the sparkling motorway, covered in smashed glass and blood.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – Certain Things**

**Apologies for the end of the last chapter, I have (thankfully) never been involved in a car accident and didn't really know how to write it. I hope you are enjoying this FF and I am not boring you, I have loads of ideas on where to take this but they never seem to work. **

**Please review!**

Tom's eyes were wider than usual and his heart was pounding against his chest as he drove towards the hospital, his mouth was dry and his lips were peeling due to the cold weather. He finally found a space and he slammed his car door shut as he ran towards the hospital door. He didn't know what to expect after the phone call, all he was told is that Steven, Julie and Sophie had been involved in a serious car accident and he was in their emergency contacts. Tom ran up to the reception desk and was greeted by smiling blonde lady.

"Hello, I have just gotten off the phone with you, the Taylors?" Tom's speech and breathing was fast, making it unclear.

The nurse nodded. "Tom Clarkson?" Tom nodded. "If you can just wait in that room, someone will come and see you soon"

"What? Why can't you tell me what is going on?"

"I am sorry sir, please just wait in there and a doctor will be with you shortly" Tom sighed and walked towards the room, he sat in one of the chairs and his head fell into his hands.

Tom looked at his watch for the hundredth time and revealed he had only been waiting for five minutes, even though it felt like longer. All he could think about was if they were alright, he couldn't help but think that the nurse on the phone was implying that Steven and Julie hadn't made it. Tom didn't know what would happen to Sophie, she had no other family.

His thoughts were cut short as a doctor walked through the double doors, Tom jumped up off his seat as he walked in and rubbed his clammy hands against his side.

"Are you Tom Clarkson?" Tom nodded, his eyes widening. "The Taylor family has been involved in a very serious car accident, we found them all in a very critical way and we have done everything we can"

Tom's face dropped and he stepped back, running his fingers through his hair. "What does that mean?"

"Steven and Julie Taylor were seriously injured and when the paramedics arrived they were pronounced dead at the scene, I am so sorry." Tom felt a lump form in his throat as he feels a tear fall down his face; he quickly sniffs them away as the doctor begins to speak again. "Sophie Taylor, their daughter, is also seriously injured. Her parents gained most of the impact but Sophie is still unconscious. We are concerned about Sophie's spine; she is hooked up to a respiratory machine which can be quite daunting."

Tom's face was pale and his head was full of questions and worries. "You mean she is in a coma?"

"Yes, we have put her in a coma to minimalize anymore pressure to her brain. The next twenty-four hours are critical for Sophie's health"

Tom took a deep breath and looked up to doctor. "I want to see her"

"Before you see her I need to ask you something, take a seat" Tom followed the doctor's instructions and sat down on one of the seats. "Steven and Julie's bodies are in a bad way and if you are up to it we need you to identify their bodies, only if you are up to it"

Tom was slightly thrown back by what the doctor was saying, he remained silent for a few more seconds before nodding. The doctor led him towards the room, Tom following him feeling his heart pound against his chest. His shoes clicking along the deadly silent corridors, all Tom could think about was Sophie. The doctor stopped in front of a metal platted door and glanced at Tom who nodded, the doctor slowly opened the door revealing the two bodies on the metal tables with white sheets over their lifeless bodies. Tom was left speechless as he looked at his two best friends lying on the tables, as he walked over tears began to fall down his face. He looked down at both their faces and his mouth fell open as he stared at his best friends.

He quickly wiped away his tears and looked up at the doctor nodding. "That is them" He spoke silently as his lips barely moved as he spoke.

After about half an hour of waiting Tom is allowed to go and see Sophie, he stood outside of the room where she was being treating looking into the glass window. He couldn't believe his eyes the once loud and lively girl looked so fragile lying in the hospital bed. Tom could barely see her face she was surrounded by wires connected to what seemed like a hundred machine keeping her alive.

She wasn't moving, just lying there. Every time a machine would beep Tom's eyes would widen and his heart would speed up, he couldn't lose Sophie. Tom glanced down at his watch and it was nearly nine o'clock in the morning, he hadn't slept all night. It was Saturday so he had no work, he looked up at Sophie and he felt like he had to stay for her parents. Tom had known Sophie for nearly ten years and they were extremely close, she would always come to Tom is she had a problem or something happened and she couldn't tell her parents. You would think it would be a father-daughter relationship, but it isn't, Tom and Sophie were like best friends, they knew everything about each other.

Tom started to think about some of the things Sophie had told him, about her mum and dad when her brother went to prison and how she watched her parents break down before her eyes, no one should have to see that. That was when Tom and Sophie got even closer, he was the only one she could talk to and now he was the only one she had, she had no other family.

Tom thoughts were cut short as the nurse walked out of the room Sophie was been treated in. "Perhaps you should go home and get some rest, there are no signs of her waking up soon"

Tom looked up at Sophie and back to the nurse. "Phone me if anything changes, I mean anything" The nurse nodded and Tom sighed as he turned away from Sophie and walked along the hospital corridors. Tom stood outside of the hospital for a few minutes before he walked over to his parked car.

-x-

It was Monday morning and Sophie still hadn't woken up from her coma. Tom was sitting in the staff room at Waterloo Road sipping his mug of coffee flicking through his newspaper. His face dropped as he came to an article, _'Daughter left in a coma as parents die in car crash'_ Tom read the article, his lips moving as he read each word anger filling as he read. The article was blaming Sophie for the accident, _'reckless driving caused by daughter who was shouting at her parent's minutes before they died'_

Tom couldn't believe they were blaming Sophie, it wasn't Sophie's fault she was in a coma and she was left with no family. No one. Tom slammed the paper down onto the coffee table in front of him, causing Sue to look up at him in disgust. Sue was new and she didn't know any of the staff, only Christine and Nikki knew about the bond between Tom and Sophie's family. Tom stormed out of the staffroom walking towards his office; he swung the door open and sank into his chair behind his desk.

Nikki looked up as the door hit the wall; she didn't say anything straight away she let Tom calm down first. She spoke up after a few seconds of listening to Tom's heavy breathing. "Tom, what's happened?"

Tom looked up to Nikki and sighed. "They are blaming Soph for the crash, Sophie" Tom said her name twice to try and understand how anyone could blame her.

"Wait, who is blaming Sophie?" Nikki walked over to Tom's desk and perked on the edge looking down at Tom leaning back into his chair.

"The bloody newspaper, there is an article about it. How are people actually blaming her?" Tom closed his eyes trying to answer his rhetorical questions.

There were a few moments of silence before Nikki put her hand onto Tom's shoulder and spoke in a quiet calm voice. "Tom are you alright, are you sure you should be at work?"

Tom sighed and pulled himself together running his hands over his face and through his hair. "I am fine; I just want Soph to wake up"

Nikki nodded and smiled weakly at Tom. "We all do Tom, have you told any of Sophie's friends? I mean her and Kevin are close"

Tom nodded as the bell went and they both moaned as they stood up and walked towards their office door. Nikki left Tom as she walked over to the PRU and Tom slowly walked over to his classroom, he opened the door letting the class in. It was Sophie's class. Kevin was last to arrive, his face paler then usual and he wasn't his normal self, much quieter. It was understandable; Tom looked over and gave him a nod which he returned.

There was an unusual tension within the classroom, most of the students had found out about the accident and Sophie being in a coma. Tom heard a group of girls whispering at the back of the classroom, his eyes burned into them as they discussed the accident. He heard them blame Sophie. "Apparently it was Sophie's fault she was shouting at her dad when he was driving"

Tom stood up from his desk, his hands slamming hard onto the desk, the girls all jumped and turned scarlet as the realised Tom had heard what they were saying. "You girls, shut up!"

The group of girls all nodded and looked down at their work. Dynasty Barry looked at the girls then at Tom and smirked to herself, she raised her hand. Tom looked at her and nodded, giving her permission to speak. "Is it true that Sophie Taylor is in a coma because she crashed her parent's car?"

Tom sighed and looked at Kevin who was staring at the desk and he looked back at Dynasty and spoke in a calm voice, trying to conceal his anger. "Yes Sophie is in a coma but she didn't crash her parent's car, a car collided with theirs and they lost control. Unfortunately, her parents dies, her parents were close friends of mine and so is Sophie, she in is a coma and we are still unsure if she will make it"

The classroom became deadly quiet, all feeling guilty for gossiping. Tom looked at Dynasty who nodded and sank into her seat. "Unless anyone else has any other questions, get on with the task Kevin could I have a word?" Kevin looked up from his desk and nodded as he followed Tom out of the classroom.

Kevin leant against the wall as Tom closed the door. "Kevin how are you feeling?"

Kevin shrugged and looked up from the floor to Tom. "Sir, is she going to die?"

"Sophie is the strongest girl I know, she has been through a lot in her life and she will fight through this, I am sure about that" Tom smiled at Kevin, he didn't know if Sophie was going to make it but he had to say something.

"She is like a sister to me, I can't lose her Sir"

Tom put his hand onto Kevin's shoulder and looked down into his eyes. "You won't"

The end of the day came and Tom walked towards Christine's office, he knocked in the door and she greeted him with a forced smile. "I can't stop long; I am going to see Sophie"

Christine nodded. "How is she doing?"

"I don't know. She isn't getting any worse. She is stable, but still in a coma." Christine nodded and gave Tom a reassuring smile. "I wanted to talk to you about where she will live when she wakes up, is there room in the schoolhouse?"

"Yes there is enough room; she would be welcome to live there." Tom smiled as he picked up his bag. "Give Sophie my best?" Tom nods as he walked out of the office.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – Certain Things**

**I am aware that I have taken forever to update this FF but I have mock exams for the next two weeks so I don't know how often updates will be. Sorry. I hope you like this FF, I am still not sure. Please review, I love reading them and I want to know if I am boring you or not. **

The bright white light made Sophie's sore dry eyes burn as she opened them for the first time since the accident, her ears filled with the noises of machines beeping and nurses running around the hospital corridors. The noises soon changed as the bright light brought her mind back to the lorry hurdling towards them and the screams she made, she suddenly sat up quickly causing her whole body to flinch in pain.

"Sophie, please remain still until the doctor has checked you out" The nurse ran over and put her hands onto Sophie's fragile shaking shoulders. Sophie did as she was told and slid back into the pillow and pulled the crisp white duvet over her pale shaking body. "You have been in a coma for nearly two weeks after a serious car accident" Sophie nodded along even though every time she did it sent an excruciating pain up her spine.

The nurse left Sophie and called for the doctor, he pushed the double doors open and smiled down at Sophie who gave him a weak smile back, and he stood at the foot of her bed holding a clip board under his arm. "We need to do some tests and make sure that everything is alright" Sophie continued nodding, ignoring the pain.

The doctor left the room with his eyes scanning over his clip board, the nurse continued to play around with the machines while Sophie sat staring up at the ceiling trying to process everything the doctor just said. She suddenly spoke up, causing the nurse to jump slightly. "Where are my parents? They were in the car"

The nurse turned around and sighed, putting her hand onto the corner of her bed. She had a sympathetic look on her face, making Sophie panic. "I don't think I am in a position to say anything about them, the doctor will be back soon and he will tell you"

Sophie closed her eyes trying to figure what the nurse just said; she needed to know if her parents were alright because all she could think about is that they were dead. A tear fell down Sophie's face, leaving a trail as it trickled down her cold skin. She quickly wiped it away as the doctor walked back into the room and she regained her composure best she could.

The doctor opened his mouth but Sophie quickly cut him off before he could say anything. "Where are my parents? Are they alright?" Sophie's voice was full of panic and her mind was telling her the worst possible things and she needed to prove them wrong.

The doctor sighed and put down his clipboard. "When the paramedics arrived at the scene of the accident your parent's were already dead. There was nothing we could do for them, they took most of the impact from the car and lorry"

Sophie felt all of her breath leave her body and she felt the tears prickle her eyes. Her face turned a ghostly white and her palms turned clammy. Sophie simply nodded and closed her eyes tightly shut, she looked up to the ceiling trying to block out the world, her mind was playing the crash over and over again and she couldn't stop it. Sophie jumped as she heard someone shout her name; she looked up and saw Tom standing at the door.

"Sophie?" She smiled at him dragging herself to sit up on the bed, ignoring the pain in her spine. Tom came over and sat down on the chair next to Sophie's bed, he placed her hand into his and for a moment he was speechless, he thought he was going to lose her. "Soph, how are you feeling?" Sophie didn't respond she just smiled, sniffing away her tears but Tom knew what she was telling him. "What is happening to you now?"

"They have to do some tests to see the extent of my injury's" Sophie's voice was quiet and she sounded empty. Her face turned pale and her grip got tighter around Tom's hand, she turned to him quickly and spoke in almost a whisper. "They can't be dead, they are all I have"

Tom moved closer to her, sitting on the edge of her chair squeezing her hand. "I know it's hard but Soph you are not alone I am here and I am not going anywhere. You and me we will get through this together" Sophie smiled and nodded at Tom. "Everyone at school is asking after you, even the Barry's"

Sophie laughed slightly, Tom grinned at the sight of her happiness. Sophie flinched slightly as the pain shot up her spine, Tom lifted his hand to her back, and she shook her head. "It's alright I am fine" Sophie sank back into her bed. "Is Kevin alright?"

"He is alright, just worried about you" Sophie nodded and asked some more questions.

The nurse walked in as Tom was filling Sophie in on the events of Waterloo Road; she was surprised of how much you can miss in only a couple of weeks. "We have to do some tests now Sophie"

Sophie's eyes widened and she felt her mouth go dry, she wasn't an idiot and she knew they were doing tests on her brain. "Don't worry Soph, you will be alright" She nodded as they wheeled her out of the room.

Tom was directed to a waiting room and he was sat hunched over with his resting his chin on his fist shaped hands, his blue orbs burned holes into the bleak walls. Tom kept finding himself thinking about Sophie's parents and their funeral, he needed Sophie's input. He had lost track of how many times he had looked down at his watch, his eyes would widen every time the second hand would tick.

The door opened, revealing a nurse smiling down at Tom. "You can come and see Sophie now, she should be awake" Tom nodded as he stood up and followed the nurse down the corridors and towards the room Sophie was being treated in.

Tom stopped the nurse once they arrived at the doors leading to Sophie's room. "The tests they will be alright, I mean she will be ok?"

The nurse could sense Tom's panic and did her best to reassure him. "The tests seem to be ok; the results are just getting checked now. We will let you know as soon as we know"

Tom smiled and pushed open the door revealing Sophie lying back on the bed, her hands were trembling and her face had lost all colour. She looked up as she heard the familiar footsteps of Tom's shoes; he was smiling down at her making her feel slightly more at ease. Tom claimed the seat next to the bed. "The results should be ready soon" Sophie nodded but kept her eyes locked onto the ceiling. Tom sat back into his chair and looked at Sophie's face, her silky smooth skin, and her angelic blue eyes that drew anyone in. Tom could always tell what Sophie's was feeling, even when she tries to hide it but right now Sophie wasn't feeling anything, and she was empty. Tom leaned forward on his seat and took Sophie's hand in his, bringing his face closer to hers. "It will be alright you know you are not alone no matter what happens. I am not going anywhere I will be here"

Sophie tilted her head allowing herself to look at Tom for the first time; she looked into his trusting blue eyes and nodded. "Tom you should go home, you have work tomorrow and you can't stay here all night"

Tom shook his head and smiled down at Sophie's fragile face. "I told you that I was staying here no matter what and right now I am needed here"

After twenty minutes of silence the nurse walked into the room, Tom looked up almost instantly but Sophie kept her eyes locked onto the ceiling not moving a single muscle in her body. The nurse stood at the end of Sophie's bed and pulled the clip board up from under her arm. "Sophie I have your test results, you are extremely lucky"

Tom let a smile cover his face. "So does that mean she doesn't have any brain damage?"

The nurse smiled down at Sophie then looked back at Tom. "Yes, we will have to keep her in for another week or so, but she will be discharged soon enough" The nurse looked down at Sophie and then at Tom who nodded as she smiled and left the room.

Tom looked down at Sophie's face; he could see she had tears falling down her face. Tom sat forward on his seat, perking on the edge. He remained silent for a few more seconds before speaking. "Soph did you hear that? You can go home soon"

"Home? I haven't got a home Tom"

"No. Sophie I talked to Christine and you can stay at the school house, there is plenty of room"

Sophie smiled and wiped her tears away; she pulled herself up on the bed and sat up. "So the school house, what's it like?"

-x-

Tom was listening to the groups of chaotic children run throughout the corridors of Waterloo Road; usually he'd be the first to scream at them but not today. As he was walking down the corridor towards the staffroom he walked past Sophie's locker, he stopped dead as he saw what someone had stuck onto her locker. There was the front cover of a newspaper with the headline _'Teen daughter kills her parents and is left unharmed'_. Tom ripped the paper off the locker crumpling it up in his fist, his eyes darted around the crowded corridor for a culprit.

Tom walked into the staffroom slamming the door against the wall as he walked in, he threw his bag onto one of the burgundy chairs and slammed some draws as he made himself a cup of coffee. None of the other staff members dared to speak as he darted around the room his face full of fury. He picked up the full mug of coffee and sat down in the chair his bag was occupying and brought the mug to his mouth, he breathed deeply as he swallowed the boiling drink. He closed his eyes and gently leant back his head as he sighed.

George Windsor looked up and rolled his eyes at Tom. "I bet I can guess what's rattled your cage" Tom didn't give a verbal response just gave the man daggers as he brought his head back up, silently telling him to go on. "I am just saying it is obvious, that Sophie girl is coming back next week and the pupils are saying she killed her parents"

Simon stepped forward off the counter and walked over to the two adults. "George I think you should shut up"

Tom looked at Simon then darted his eyes back to George. "So you agree, you think she is responsible?"

George moaned deeply, making Tom even angrier. "I wasn't there, the only people that were there are now dead" George earned himself another look from Simon; he nodded and brought his attention back to his marking. Tom stood up and walked out of the staffroom and over to his classroom, slamming as much doors as possible.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Please tell me what you think of this FF because I don't think it is as good as my previous FF. I will hopefully have some better stories up when my exams have finished! Please continue to read and review this FF because it might get better! : )**

_A/N: thank you to Mini Peacelet for the review, means a lot!_

Sophie's delicate eyelashes fluttered open to the sound of her alarm ringing in her ear; she swung her arm over and slammed it down onto her bedside table. She rolled over and looks up at the ceiling for a few seconds trying to calm herself down, it was her first day back after the accident. She dragged her long elegant legs from under her duvet and stood up and glided across her new room at the school house, she opened her wardrobe and pulled out her uniform. Sophie buttoned up her crisp white blouse and put on her tailored skater skirt over her black tights; she wrapped a black leather belt around her petit waist and fastened the gold plated buckle. Sophie looked at herself in the mirror and ran her fingers over her ridged scars that had formed on her neck; she blinked herself out of her gaze and applied a thin layer of makeup and some mascara. She ran a brush threw her blonde lightly curled hair and left it flowing effortlessly down her back, she picked up her blazer and bag and ran down the stairs.

After Maggie was finished fussing over Sophie and constantly checking she was alright to be going back she finally escaped the school house, she walked along the road with Waterloo Road now in sight and she began to feel the butterflies. Her ears were content in listening to the clicking of her Chelsea boots along the pavement until the chaos of Waterloo Road ringed in her ears. Sophie could feel people staring at her and pointing, she kept her eyes locked onto the ground as she made her way to the Common Room.

Sophie opened the door and scanned the room until her eyes met Kevin, she practically ran over to her best friend. Kevin jumped up and Sophie wrapped her arms around Kevin and he is slightly taller than she is so she was standing on her tip-toes.

"I am so happy you are back!" Kevin let go of Sophie and sat down onto his seat, pulling a seat out for Sophie. "So how are you feeling?"

Sophie sat down on the seat and placed her bag onto the desk, letting her hands play with the zip. "I am alright I guess, the funeral is on Saturday but Tom has organised most of it"

Kevin nodded and looked down at the desk, he remained silent for a few more seconds before he looks up and the words exploded form his mouth. "Sophie have you told your brother?"

Sophie raised her head slowly to let her eyes meet Kevin's she shook her head and quickly stood up pulling her black leather bag over her shoulder letting in touch her knees. "I am going to my locker I have some books I need"

Kevin sighed and followed Sophie out of the Common Room; Kevin couldn't help but feel that Ryan should know about his parent's death. As they are walking to Sophie's locker Kevin is holding onto Sophie's arm keeping her close and her attention on him, trying to not let Sophie hear what people were saying about her.

"Kevin I know what people are saying about me, they think it was my fault" Sophie opened her locker and pulled out some books putting them in her bag. "I know it was my fault, so they are right"

"Sophie it wasn't your fault, stop saying that" Kevin put his hands on Sophie's shoulder making her look straight into his face, feeling it would make a difference.

"It was Kevin, I was shouting and we lost control when the car crashed into us" Sophie looked down at the ground, not letting the tears form in her eyes.

"Exactly, the car crashed into you. It wasn't your fault" Kevin paused and looked at Sophie again. "Sophie you need to tell Ryan, he is your brother"

Sophie looked up at Kevin and slammed her locker shut and walked towards the school entrance. Nikki is standing at the door; Sophie swings the door open and steps outside onto the yard with Kevin running after her.

"You two get inside, you should be heading to form" Kevin looked at Sophie in a pleading way he couldn't stand the thought of her thinking it was her fault. Sophie looked away from him and back to Nikki. "Sophie how are you feeling?"

Sophie shrugged and looked as Kevin left her and Nikki walking to form, Nikki was Sophie's form tutor. "I don't really know"

"You know if you ever need to talk, I am always here if you need a chat" Nikki looked down at Sophie as they walked towards Nikki's classroom.

Sophie suddenly stopped outside of the classroom. "Can I ask you a question?" Nikki looked down at Sophie, slightly confused and gave her a nod. "Miss what if the crash was my fault and I killed my parents?"

Nikki looked down at Sophie, only feeling complete sorrow towards her. "Sophie listen to me, the crash was not your fault and you shouldn't blame yourself" Nikki looked through the glass in the classroom door at the room full of chaotic teenagers and back to Sophie. "Look Sophie people will be saying things but you just need to ignore them, they are just doing it for a reaction and they will calm down soon"

Sophie nodded to the teacher and gave her a forced smile as she pushed open the door and Sophie walked over to the table with Imogen and they sat and chatted until the bell went and they both go up and walked out of their form room, Sophie glanced over to Nikki who gave her a smile as she left the classroom and headed towards double-English.

"You know Sophie Mr Clarkson hasn't been the same since the crash, he screamed at Dynasty when she started to say things" Imogen looked at her friend who let a snigger escape from her lips.

"He has been great you know, he came to the hospital every day and he has organised the funeral" Sophie and Imogen stopped as they reached the classroom and joined the queue of moaning teenagers.

Tom appeared at the door and swung it open letting the class into the room; Sophie was walking behind Imogen and Connor. "Sophie" She looked up to Tom who stepped aside signalling she had to do the same. "It's good to see you back; it hasn't been the same without you in. But if you find it too hard you know where I am Soph"

Sophie looked at Tom and smiled. "Tom I am alright, I just want to get this week over with and get back to normal" Sophie was trying hard to not let her emotions show, perhaps too hard.

"That reminds me, we need to go over who is coming to the funeral. Come to my room at lunch?"

"Yeah sure" They both walked into the classroom, Sophie walked over and sat down next to Kevin. Sophie knew that Tom would want to invite Ryan and she didn't know how she was going to react when he did. Sophie got so angry when Kevin asked her and he knew what he did to her. Tom doesn't.

The double lesson dragged and Sophie kept her head down just like Nikki told her too, she avoided any eye contact with the Barry's and she barely spoke. Finally the bell went and Sophie and Kevin walked over to French together with George Windsor. They both sat down at the back of the classroom, Kevin pulled out his homework and Sophie glanced around the classroom to the other students putting their homework's on their desks.

George stood in front of Kevin and Sophie's desk and Kevin handed the teacher his homework, he looks down at Sophie who looked back at him in confusion. "Miss Taylor where is your homework?"

Sophie looked up at the teacher making her confusion more apparent and then turned her head to look at Kevin who simply shrugged. "I haven't done any homework; today's my first day back"

George nodded at Sophie and turned around on his heels and walked towards his desk at the front of the classroom, the whole class was silent for it was obvious he had something else to say. "That's right you crashed your parents car and then you were in a coma"

Sophie looked up her face full of anger and her eyes darted across the room to the teachers, even though he mumbled everyone heard. "What did you just say?"

"Well not all of us can have out best friends as teachers to fight our corners, can we?" George turned around cocking his head slightly showing off a sarcastic grin.

Sophie pushed the chair out from under her putting her hand under the table flipping it over in the process, she swung her bag over her shoulder swinging the door open allowing it to slam off the wall with full force.

George looked at the teenager in horror and as she was a few steps out of the door he shouted down to her. "Get into the cooler, now!" Trying to keep some of his professionalism intact.

The class was deadly silent and all you could hear was Sophie shout back to George down the corridors. "Piss off Windsor"

-x-

Nikki was walking down the corridor towards the staffroom; she looked up as she heard the sound of sighing and hurried footsteps heading her way. Tom was walking towards her his eyes darting around the corridors, running his hand through his hair. "Tom what is wrong, has something happened?"

Tom stopped and put his hands on his side. "Sophie was supposed to meet me at lunch to discuss the funeral"

Nikki nodded and looks around her as if Sophie would magically be there. "Alright I will keep an eye out and if I find her I will bring her to your classroom" Tom nodded and he continued to storm throughout the corridors of the school, while Nikki continued her route to the staffroom.

She walked into the staffroom and looks across to see a frazzled George storm into Christine's office, she let a grin sneak onto her face and then looked up at Simon. "What's that all about?"

Simon looked behind him and stepped forward to Nikki. "Apparently Sophie Taylor flipped some tables and stormed out of his lesson"

"Wait when was this?"

"Just before lunch" Simon looked on as Nikki sighed and jogged out of the staffroom, she kept up her pace as she went over to Tom's classroom. It was empty. She walked over to the Common Room to see if Sophie was in there, she wasn't so she walked over to Kevin, Imogen and Connor.

"What happened in Mr Windsor's lesson with Sophie" The three teenagers looked up to the teacher who just interrupted their conversation.

The three teenagers looked up at the teacher as she widened her eyes urging them to speak. Kevin looked at his friends then back at Nikki before speaking. "Mr Windsor said something about the crash, that it was her fault and Sophie went crazy and walked out"

Nikki nodded then left the Common Room, she couldn't believe George sometimes. She walked through the corridors until she finally bumped into Tom. "Tom, have you seen Sophie?" Tom didn't respond verbally just shook his head. "Apparently she stormed out of George's lesson, I don't know the full story but I think he said something about the crash"

Tom sighed and his face filled with anger. "Thanks Nik, I could kill George sometimes" Nikki sniggered and the two teachers went in their separate directions. Tom walked towards his classroom; he swung the door open and looked to the back of his classroom. "Soph, where have you been?"

Sophie jumped and her eyes quickly moved from the window to the voice, she wasn't smiling at the sight of Tom she turned a shade of red in either anger or embarrassment. "Walking, I am sorry. You said I should stay calm and I didn't."

Tom walked over to the back of the classroom where Sophie was sitting hunched up in the corner with her knees pulled right up to her face, Tom glanced down and quickly joined her on the floor. "Don't need to apologise Soph, just tell me what happened in French"

Sophie had moved her eyes back to staring out of the window looking up at the sky which was dark and covered in black clouds. Sophie was so distance and empty she looked to Tom and then spoke in a calm, quiet voice. "Windsor said that I crashed my parent's car and that not everyone can have a best friend as a teacher"

Tom's eyes widened and his fist clenched, his voice was louder now and not as reassuring. "What? Wait, he said that it was your fault? In front of his class?"

"Yes" Sophie sighed and looked down at the floor, her hands had turned icy cold and she had pulled her jumper sleeves down covering them. Her bottom lip started to tremble as her speech got louder and the pace increased. "Tom what if it never stops? I can't handle this anymore, I thought I would be able to cope but I am not. I miss them too much"

Tom watched as the tears began to fill up in her eyes, he had never seen her like this. She was so empty. "I know it's hard, I miss them too. It will get easier, it has to. But remember that you are not alone Soph because I am not going anywhere, promise" Tom wrapped his arm around Sophie's shoulder, she found herself resting her head on his shoulder. "Once we get the funeral sorted things will get better" Sophie didn't speak but Tom could feel her nod against his shoulder.

After five minutes they both walked out of Tom's classroom, Sophie gave Tom a quick hug and he spoke into her ear reminding her to come to his room at the end of the day. Sophie left Tom as she waked to the Common Room, trying to regain her emotional stability. Tom walked into the staffroom and slowly walked over to the kettle.

Nikki looked up as she heard the kettle start boiling; she stood up and walked over to the kitchenette. "Tom, have you found Sophie?"

Tom blinked himself out of his daydream and looked at Nikki for few seconds before processing what she just said. "Yeah but she is in a right state, she isn't coping Nik" Tom felt the anger rush through his body once more as he slammed the cupboard door shut. "Bloody George Windsor said that the crash was her fault in front of the class"

Tom and Nikki both look up as George and Christine walk out of her office and into the staffroom, Nikki grabbed Tom's arm as he stepped forward. "Tom don't do anything you will regret" Tom nodded and put his mug down and walked out of the staffroom, thinking it would be best to stay out of his way.

Nikki watched George as he strolled over towards her. Nikki steps forward getting herself close to the man, making sure he doesn't miss a word. "What you said to Sophie Taylor you should never have said, I don't care what you think but don't you think she has gone through enough without you saying that in class?" Nikki paused and looked at the man as he grew more uncomfortable by each word as the regret grew up inside him. "Oh and if I were you I'd stay out of Tom's way he isn't exactly in a talkative mood"

-x-

Sophie found herself walking over to Tom's classroom for what felt like the hundredth time today, she clasped her hand around the cold metal handle. Every one of her movements felt useless and lifeless. She walks into the classroom and sat on the desk in front of Tom's desk. Tom looked up and gave her a weak but reassuring smile and handed her a piece of paper with names scribbled down onto it.

Sophie looked down at the paper quizzically. "What's this?"

"A list of names for the funeral, is that everyone?"

Sophie nodded and quickly scanned the names; she looked up when she comes to a certain name. She looks at Tom then back down to the paper reading the name again. _Ryan Taylor._ "I don't want Ryan coming to the funeral Tom"

"Soph he is your brother and he was their son" He paused and looked at Sophie waiting for a reaction. "How did he how sound when you told him about their death?" Sophie looked to the floor and began to wrap a loose piece of thread around her finger. "You did tell him, didn't you? He has the right to know"

Sophie's face shot up and her eyes were narrow as her face crumbled up in anger, she stood off the desk. "He has not got the right, what he did to mum he shouldn't come and he isn't coming" Tom nodded and accepted the list back off Sophie.

It wasn't like Sophie didn't want to see him; she was scared to see him. Only Kevin knows about what he did to her and she couldn't face telling Tom and she couldn't face Ryan, not after all these years of trying to forget.

After an hour Sophie left Tom's classroom and walked out of the school onto the yard, the icy cold wind blew against her fragile body. She wrapped her arms across her trying to fight off the cold as she walked towards the school house. Tom remained in his classroom; he was looking down at his phone. He sighed as he picked up the phone and dialled a number, after the third ring there was an answer.

"Hello, is this Ryan Taylor? It is Tom Clarkson, remember me?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – Certain Things**

**So I have given up on revising for my mock exams because I will fail them either way! Anyway I hope you like this chapter, please continue to read and please review!**

**Sorry this is probably too long.**

The rain had been pouring down all night, but the sun had started to peak through the clouds that hung over Greenock. It was a Saturday morning and the tension in the school house was thick, it was the day of Sophie's parent's funeral. She hadn't eaten in the last twenty-four hours but she wasn't hungry and Maggie had given up trying. Sophie opened her eyes as she lay staring up the white washed ceiling in her room, she felt her mouth go dry and her palms go clammy. She ran her tongue over her pale, dry lips to try and regain their natural moisture. She sat up and glanced out of the window, she heard the rain last night but it wasn't like she would have been able to sleep anyway. Sophie pulled her covers away from her and sat on the edge of her bed with her head resting in the palms of her hands, her long hair effortlessly falling down the front of her face. She sighed and took a deep breath through her nose as she stood up scraping her hair behind her ears as she walked over to her door. She knew nobody would be awake yet so she silently walked across the landing into the bathroom, she opened the door and picked up a towel and her wash bag before she turned the shower on. Once showered she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, she struggled to see her reflection due to the steam, and she felt the tears begin to fill her eyes. She stood with her hands on either side on the cold sink looking down at the basin, she quickly turned the cold tap on and filled her hands up with the freezing cold liquid and splashed it over her face.

Once dressed she walked downstairs and slowly pushed open the double doors that led into the dining room, she looked over to Maggie who was putting some toast on a plate. "Morning pet, how are feeling?" Sophie didn't speak, she shrugged. "You look nice sweetie"

Sophie glanced down at her body; she was wearing a black dress that her mum bought her two weeks before she died. She ran her hands down her front and suddenly brought herself back to reality. She looked up and smiled at Maggie and mumbled. "Thanks"

"Here is some toast, I now you said you weren't hungry but you need to eat" Maggie handed Sophie the plate and she smiled before turning around to sit down at one of the tables. Nobody was even up yet so she was alone, something she was slowly getting used to.

After ten minutes of Sophie staring at her slices of toast she jumped slightly as the doorbell rang, she pushed the chair out from under her and walked over to the door. She pulled the door open, keeping her eyes locked onto the floor, and stepped aside letting them in. "Hey Soph, how you feeling" Tom's voice was quiet and he had clearly been crying, but he was doing well hiding it. Sophie looked up at Tom and smiled weakly trying to show him how she was feeling.

Once Sophie had said bye to Maggie she and Tom got into a taxi and they were driven to the funeral. Neither of them spoke, Tom kept opening his mouth about to say something but he had nothing to say. Sophie was staring out of the window resting her chin on her hand, letting her forehead rest on the cold window. Tom remained still keeping his hands clenched in his lap, he kept running his hands through his hair to try and keep himself busy. After twenty minutes of deafening silence the taxi driver came to a halt. Sophie and Tom both exited the taxi and walked over to the seats on the front row. They both remained silent, Sophie found herself searching for Tom's hand when the service began Tom held her hand tight. This small show of affection made both him and Sophie feel more at ease. Sophie started at the picture of her parents sitting onto of their coffins, she studied the two pictures and she doesn't feel anything, she wants to cry but she doesn't she just feels empty.

Once the service was over Tom was standing over the two graves, looking down at the flowers and the pictures. He found himself crying, something he swore he wouldn't do. Sophie looked over to where her parents had been buried and she saw Tom standing by them, she felt a surge of guilt run through her body. She slowly walked over pulling her black jacket around her petit body; she stood next to him and looked up to him as he wiped his eyes quickly. "Tom I am sorry for not being very helpful" Sophie's voice was croaky since she hadn't spoken a lot in the past few days.

Tom looked down at Sophie and smiled down at her as she smiled up at him, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she leant into his side. He was the closest thing she had to family left and Tom wasn't going to let anything happen to her. "It's alright Soph; the main thing is to get you back to your usual self"

Sophie smiled and she closed her eyes as she rested her head onto Tom's shoulder, they both remained by the graves for a few minutes until a menacing sound filled the air. "How's my little sister?"

Sophie's eyes slowly opened as she tried to process what just went through her head, her whole body tensed up as she heard her brother's voice. She looked over to the voice and there he was, standing with his hands in his jean pockets grinning over at Sophie and Tom. Tom opened his mouth about to explain himself but Sophie was already storming over to her brother. She stood only centimetres away from him and spoke through her gritted teeth. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Her brother kept his smug grin plastered across his face as he looked down at his little sister. "I was invited Sophie"

Sophie's face filled with confusion and after a few moments of silence she turned around to see Tom walking over slightly cautiously. "You? You invited him here, after everything he has done?" Sophie was screaming at Tom, even though he was only a few steps away from her.

"Soph, he has a right to know he was their son and he is your brother"

Sophie shook her head and her pushed Tom away as he tried to put his hands on her shoulders. "No, he isn't anything to me, I hate him and I hate you"

Tom stepped back feeling hurt, he reached out as Sophie turned away from him and begin to walk away from Tom and her brother. "Sophie just wait, Soph"

"Don't Soph me, just leave me alone" Sophie pushed past Tom and walked out of the graveyard into the car park of the church, Tom sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

Tom looked up and suddenly remembered that Ryan had been standing there, he stepped forward and smiled at him weakly. "I am sorry about that, it is probably best if you leave her for a while, she will soon calm down" Ryan nods and Tom sighs as he walks back inside to greet other close friends of Sophie's parents.

Ryan looked over to Sophie who was leaning against the brick wall of the church with her arms folded across her chest, he grinned at the sight of her vulnerability. He walked over to his little sister and stood in front of her, making himself feel more dominant and in control. Sophie avoided any eye contact and she turned away to walk away but Ryan grabbed her arm. Her eyes suddenly filled with terror and she looked down at Ryan's hand and back at his face. She tries to tell him to let her go but she can't get any words out, it is like she is paralyzed with fear. Ryan laughed at her attempt to struggle out of his grip, but he was stronger than Sophie and she had no chance. He dragged her behind the church, she tried to scream but she couldn't even breathe let alone speak.

Once they are both out of sight, Ryan pins Sophie against the wall Sophie flinched in pain as a nail pushed into her shoulder blade. "You know what Sophie I might just call my mates down here, they have missed you"

Sophie's face filled with terror, the memories came flooding back and what his _mates_ did to her. She finally managed to get some words out. "Please go Ryan, I don't want you here"

Ryan put his face closer to Sophie's she could smell the alcohol on his breath it made her suddenly want to throw up, but she had nothing to throw up. "Do you think I care what you want? You put me in prison and you have to be punished for that"

Sophie suddenly found the strength to fight back; she gritted her teeth and tried to hide her fear. "I didn't put you in prison; I never even talked to the police"

"Well the two people that did put me in prison are dead now and you're the only one left" Ryan still had his hand wrapped around Sophie's arm and she did all she knew and pushed him away and pushed herself off the wall and tried to run away. Ryan was too quick for her though and grabbed her before she could get far and spun her around smacking her across the face in the process. Sophie whimpered in pain and could feel the tears burning down her face; she dragged herself off the ground and ran away from her abusive brother. She didn't know where she was running too she was just running as far away from Ryan as physically possible.

-x-

It was Monday morning and Tom and Sophie hadn't spoken since the funeral. Tom went to find Sophie but Ryan told him that she walked back to the school house. Tom was driving to school letting the events of Saturday play in his mind, he was starting to question if inviting Ryan was the right thing to do. He was so engulfed in his thoughts he didn't even notice that he had nearly driven into a group of Year Seven girls; he drove into the school car park and stepped out of his car. He let his eyes scan the yard and he couldn't see Sophie anywhere, he decided he could talk to her after first lesson. He walked towards the staffroom and breathed deeply as he made himself a cup of coffee, he looked up as he hears someone saying his name. It was Nikki.

"Tom?" Nikki must have been standing there for a few seconds; Tom nodded telling her to speak. "How are you feeling?"

Tom looked down to his coffee and threw his spoon into the sink before turning back to Nikki. "I am alright I guess but I think Sophie is angry with me"

"Why? Did something happen?"

They both sunk into one of the burgundy seats and brought their cups of coffee up to their lips each taking an equally large gulp. "We had a fight about family things, I hate to say it but I think I was wrong"

Nikki smiled slightly as she took the mug away from her lips. "I am sure Sophie is alright, she will just be upset and want to get back to normal" Tom nodded and they were drawn over to Christine walking in talking about this week's announcements.

Sophie was making her way towards her locker, trying to push past the groups of overly excited Year Seven's. Sophie was keeping her head down and her hair protecting her bruises. She was stood putting books into her bag; she closed the locker and walked over to the Common Room. She slowly opened the door, still avoiding eye contact with anyone. She sees Kevin sitting in the corner alone and walks over, he looks up and his mouth falls open at the sight of her black eye and bust lip.

"I know it's bad" Sophie sighed as she sat down next to her best friend.

"Bad? Sophie who did this to you?" Kevin's face was full of worry, his hands resting on Sophie's as he gazed into her eyes.

"Not here, come on" Sophie and Kevin both stood up and they walk out of the room, ignoring Connor and Imogen. Sophie is keeping her head down speeding along the corridors, ignoring the bell ringing out throughout the school.

"Sophie tell me what is going on" Kevin is pleading with Sophie as she drags him behind her. She is ignoring him and keeping her head down until they finally exit the building. Sophie pulls Kevin to the bike sheds, away from the other students.

Sophie looked up at Kevin letting her face become fully visible, it looked so much worse than it did in the Common Room. "Sophie what happened?"

"At the funeral, Tom he um…he…."

"What he did this?"

"No of course not! He invited Ryan, my brother" Kevin's face dropped, he didn't understand.

"He did this; I thought you said he wouldn't be coming?"

"I know, Tom thought he should have been there. He doesn't know about what Ryan did to me Kevin"

"So Ryan did this to you, Sophie you have to tell someone" Kevin looked around the almost deserted yard. "What did Tom say?"

"I haven't spoken to him since the funeral, we had a fight" Sophie's voice had gotten quieter even though the yard was completely empty no with everyone in their forms. "Ryan has left now its fine, trust me"

Kevin looks over to the door as Simon shouts over at them. "Kevin and Sophie get inside, in case you haven't noticed school has started"

Sophie walks away and Kevin quickly stops her. "Sophie you have to tell Tom" Sophie nods and looks to the floor as they walk past Simon and into the school. She pulled her hair over her face again trying to hide the marks left by her menacing brother.

Sophie and Kevin both left each other to go to their own form rooms, Sophie walked along the now deserted corridors towards her own form room. Her breathing rate increased as she thought about people seeing her battered face, she stopped as she came to the classroom door. She raised her trembling hand and wrapped her fingers around the cold, steel handle and swung the door open ignoring what Nikki was saying. "Sophie why are you late?"

"Sorry Miss, I didn't hear the bell go off" Nikki sighed as she knew what Sophie was saying was a lie; the bell was loud enough for people to hear it from miles away. Sophie sat down next to Imogen and kept her head down.

"Where the hell did you and Kevin run off to in the Common Room?" Imogen was annoyed but she suddenly gasped as Sophie glanced up to her friend, revealing her face.

"Just leave it Imogen" Sophie kept her eyes locked onto Imogen, Imogen went to open her mouth but Sophie stopped her. "Please just leave it; I've already had a lecture from Kevin"

Imogen nodded and figured that Tom would probably know. They both moved their eyes from each other and looked down to the desk, feeling the tension between them now. Imogen looked up and sparked up a new conversation. "So how was the funeral?"

"How do you think it went?" Sophie gestured to her face, knowing that she was being harsh to Imogen as she didn't hit her. "Sorry Imogen"

The bell goes off and Imogen and Sophie both get up and walk towards Tom's classroom for double-English, Sophie keeping her eyes locked to the ground she can't even think about facing Tom. She thinks about skipping the lesson but then remembers that Nikki has already seen her. Sophie and Imogen walk over to Connor and Kevin who are one of the first people at the classroom.

Sophie looks up as Connor asks how she is feeling. "Please just leave it, all of you" Sophie looked around her group of friends.

Tom swings the door open and Sophie quickly moves her eyes back to the ground, keeping her face hidden. "Come on in" Tom steps aside letting the class in, Sophie trailing behind Kevin. "Soph can I have a word?" Tom steps aside as the rest of the class walks into the room. Sophie tried to avoid eye contact but she is failing miserably. "I just wanted to say sorry for what happened at the funeral but Ryan deserve to come Soph, he is your brother" Sophie feels the anger inside her boil up and her head shoots up letting her bruises be clear. Tom gasps slightly and moves closer to Sophie as if he could protect her. "Who the hell did this to you?"

"Who do you think?" Sophie's eyes were filling with tears, not with pain or sorrow but with fear. Sophie pushes past Tom and walks down the corridor; Tom is left stunned in silence.

Tom quickly blinks himself back into reality and looks down the corridor but Sophie is now out of sight, he looks into his full classroom. He sighs and puts his head into his classroom. "Right you lot keep the noise down" Tom runs towards the staffroom, he swings the door open letting it slam against the peeling walls of the dull room. His eyes scan the almost empty room. "Simon, can you take my class? I have something I really need to sort out"

Simon sighs and reluctantly agrees, sensing that something is wrong. Tom thanks him and leaves the staffroom and begins to search the corridors. He finally finds Sophie sitting at the bottom of a stair case picking at her thumb nail. He walks down the steps and sits down next to her, Sophie automatically stands up but Tom puts his hand on her arm and she sighs sitting back down. Tom doesn't say anything he just sits and stares down at her abused face.

Sophie looks up at Tom and sighs realising she needs to start talking. "I am sorry Tom for everything; I have been a right brat"

"I am sorry too Soph" Tom pauses for a second, pondering what to say next. "Why didn't you tell me what Ryan did to you at the funeral?"

"It didn't seem like a big deal, look Tom it wasn't the first time he has done this. I know I should have to you"

"Wait, Ryan also abused you?" Tom's face was a mixture of panic, worry and guilt.

Sophie nodded and brought her attention back to her nails; she took a deep breath and began to tell her story. "It started when I was about thirteen and he used to get angry and push me about, I didn't really think about it I just thought it was what big brothers did. But when he got older he got stronger and he would kick me in the stomach. His mates would never touch mum but one day a few weeks before I was fifteen Ryan and his mates were by the garages outside of school and they dragged me behind one of them, he started to punch me until I couldn't get up. I saw him not to one of friends and two of them came over and pinned me to the floor and they….they…."

Sophie didn't need to say anymore; even if she could she couldn't because the tears had started to stream down her face. Tom wrapped his arm around her shoulder and for a second she put her head onto his shoulder but she suddenly wriggled away from his touch and pushed herself up off the stairs. Tom looked up at her looking slightly confused. "Soph what is wrong?" There was no answer Sophie was just standing staring at him her eyes filling with burning tears. "Soph?"

"No don't fucking Soph me, this is your fault. _You_ invited him here; I told you I didn't want him to come didn't I? There was a reason Tom"

"Soph, please just listen to me"

"No, Tom you're just like everyone else. You're a liar Tom Clarkson and I hope I never see you again"

Sophie walked away from Tom and pushed herself through the doors entering corridor after corridor, ignoring Tom calling her name and eventually her brisk walk had turned into a sprint. She pushed open the doors and she escaped onto the yard, the cold morning air took her breath away as she tried to fight back the tears. Her hands clenched up into fists she didn't know how she was feeling, she wanted Tom to tell her everything was going to be okay but at the time she hated him.

Tom is looking through the corridors, not knowing if he should be looking for Sophie or just leave her alone. Just as Tom sees Sophie walking towards the school gates the bell rang out throughout the school and the once empty school corridors was filled with chaotic school children, making it impossible to get to the door.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 – Certain Things**

**Sorry for the late update I have had mock exams and school has taken over my life the past few weeks. Sorry if this chapter isn't very good, I rushed it and it was written quite late. As always please R&R!**

The sun danced over the streets of Greenock as Waterloo Road welcomed their students back for another term. It had been three weeks since Sophie and Tom had an argument, and Sophie told Tom she never wanted to see him again. Sure enough she kept to her word. Tom pulled his mirror down to protect his eyes from the bright sun beams that were shining over his face, making his tiredness all the more visible. Once he had pulled into the car park of the school and parked his car into one of the marked spaces, he pulled out his brief case and stepped out of his vehicle, quickly stepping back to avoid the group of overly excited girls running into the school. Tom walked towards the school doors and swung them open stepping into the familiar chaotic corridors of the school.

As he was slowly walking towards the staffroom a tall, well-built boy walked into the teacher. Tom and the student stumbled off their tracks as their bodies collided. "OI, watch where you are going" The student didn't listen to Tom as he walked away from the teacher. Tom sighed and turned back to the staffroom; he swung open the green painted door and walked over to the kitchenette to make himself a well needed cup of coffee. He picks up his strong black coffee and sank down into one of the burgundy cushioned seats putting his brief case to his feet.

Tom is soon joined by Nikki, who is also clenching a strong cup of coffee trying to get herself through the day without killing one of the students. "Morning Tom, glad to be back?"

"Morning Nik, better than sitting at home I guess" Tom's speech was quiet and his eyes showed the sleepless nights he had obviously been faced with throughout the holiday.

"That bad?" Nikki smiled at Tom and they both shared a smirk. "I thought Josh was coming up for the week?" Nikki brought her cup up to her lips, breathing in the almost invisible steam.

"He cancelled, too busy to spend some time with his old man apparently" Tom sighed as he thought about how he had hardly seen his son since he moved away from him. Tom wasn't going to tell anyone but he was feeling alone, his best friends have died, he barely sees his son and he hadn't spoken to Sophie for weeks.

"Well we have the morning assemble to look forward to" Nikki grins as she watched Tom moan at the thought of the ever painful assembly that both teachers and students hated. "I have just seen Sophie and it looks like she has gotten herself a boyfriend. Tom have you and her sorted everything out yet?" Tom doesn't answer he just sighs and brings his mug up to his lips taking the final gulp of his coffee. "You need to talk to her, she was angry and upset. She wouldn't have meant what she said"

Tom cuts her off before she can continue with her lecture. "Look Nik, she made it quite clear that she wanted nothing to do with me. All I've ever down for that girl is try and make her life better and this is the thanks I get? Her telling me she hates me?" Tom stands up from Nikki and walks out of the staffroom over to his pigeon box, trying to distract himself from the topic of Sophie Taylor.

-x-

Meanwhile Sophie and Kevin are standing by Sophie's locker. "Where were you all holiday? I hardly saw you?" Kevin looked up to Sophie as he slips some books into his bag.

"Sorry Kev but I spent most of the holiday with Danny and some of his mates" Sophie couldn't stop the smile that's snuck onto her face as she thought about Danny.

"Ah yes, your new boyfriend Danny Knight" Sophie rolled her eyes at Kevin and gave him a look telling him to knock it off. "Look I am sorry Sophie but I don't think he is right for you" Kevin stopped as he looked up to see Danny stroll over to Sophie wrapping his long, strong arm around Sophie's waist, pulling her closer to him.

"Who's this?" Danny looked at Kevin standing in front of Sophie his eyes moved from his shoes to his face, his face full of jealously.

"This is Kevin; don't you remember I told you about him? He is like my best friend" Sophie grinned as she looked to Kevin. Danny's face dropped by this information, his grip tightened around Sophie's waist she wriggled slightly but he took no notice his face was full of anger.

Kevin seemed oblivious to this and held out his hand to Danny and grinned looking up to the slightly taller boy. "Hi mate, Sophie seems to like you then"

Danny looked down to Kevin's held out hand and back to his face, leaving Kevin dropping his hand to his side. "Yeah she does, come on Sophie" Sophie looked at Kevin and Danny, with equal confusion but before she could say anything Danny was pulling her away from Kevin letting his grip get tighter around Sophie's waist, moving up to her shoulders.

Sophie stopped Danny and walked to the side of the corridor, getting out of the way of other students. "Danny what was that all about? Kevin is my best friend and you were really rude to him Danny"

"I don't want you talking to him anymore"

Sophie looked up to Danny confusion, feeling the wall getting pushed into her back more and more. She pushed him away slightly giving herself more room to breathe. "No, me and Kevin are like family and when my parents died he was there for me"

Danny pushed Sophie against the wall, moving his face closer to hers letting her feel his warm harsh breath against her face. "I don't remember asking what you wanted, I am all you need now and I don't want you talking to Kevin or anyone else"

Sophie's face is full of fear and she nods sensing that Danny isn't joking and not wanted to find out what would happen if she argued. The bell ran throughout the corridors and Danny released his grip from Sophie, she could feel the pains in her arms and back form where he had held her against the wall, she silently ignored them as they walked into the assembly hall. Sophie is walking in front of Danny and she looks over the hall and sees Tom sitting next to Nikki, she sighs and deep down inside she wants to run over and apologise for everything but she quickly looks down as he glances up as he feels someone staring at him.

Christine stands in front of the students telling them about how amazing they are all going to do this term, Sophie feeling her arms begin to form marks and she begins to feel uncomfortable sitting next to Danny. She thinks about what attracted her to him, he was tall with dark smooth hair, he was strong and he seemed kind and caring. Not possessive and over powering.

Sophie is drawn out of her day dream as she feels Danny's harsh breath against her skin once more, she turns to face him. "Can I get some chewing gum out of your bag?" Sophie nods and feels herself let a breath out as he lets go of her arm, she hadn't even realised he had been holding onto it. Sophie brings her attention back to Christine as Danny pulls her medium sized leather school bag and rests it on his lap, he glances at Sophie before slipping his hand into his blazer pocket and pulls out a small clear plastic bag and slips it into Sophie's bag and pulls out some chewing gum, passing some to Sophie before he sits back in his seat looking quite pleased with himself.

Sophie looks at him and pulls a puzzled face, trying to forget the pain in her arms. "What are you so happy about?" Sophie asked Danny just as Christine finished her speech and had sent everyone to their first lesson.

Danny and Sophie stand up and they both walk out of the hall together, Sophie trying to put Danny's violent behaviour to the back of her mind. "I'm just happy because we get to spend all day together when we are at school"

"We won't be spending much time together, you're in the PRU so you will spend all day in there with Boston barking orders at you" Sophie looked up to Nikki as she was ushering her PRU students out of the hall.

Danny simply smiled at Sophie. "Well we will see" Sophie didn't get a chance to ask what he was up to as he walked off towards the PRU leaving Sophie looking down at her timetable. She had English, with Tom.

Sophie sighed as she walked down the corridor towards her English classroom, trying to distract herself from the reason she stopped talking to Tom. She tried to forget why but she couldn't, he lied to her. Sophie was quickly brought back to reality as Tom swung his classroom door open, he had a smile that covered his face but it didn't quite reach his eyes but only Sophie noticed this. She walked past him trying to act like any other student and not like he was the only family she really had left. She walked to the back of the classroom and sat in the back with Imogen, ignoring the glares she was getting from Kevin.

Tom stood at the front of his classroom, leaning against the desk, his arms folded across his chest. He let the students clam down before they gave Tom their full attention. Tom walked over to a pile of work books. "Right welcome back you horrible lot, I hope you all had a nice break but we are back to getting ready for you exams. Dynasty hand these out"

-x-

The bell finally rang out throughout Waterloo Road signalling the end of the lesson and Sophie started to pack up her things. Sophie and Imogen were walking out of the classroom Sophie keeping her head down, avoiding any awkward eye contact with Tom.

Imogen and Sophie were walking their lockers until Imogen broke the deafening silence between them. "Sophie you should talk to Mr Clarkson and sort things out, it's obvious you need him Sophie you aren't coping very well"

Sophie stopped in the chaotic corridor and looked at Imogen before she opened her mouth. "I am not talking to him, he lied to me and it resulted in me getting battered from Ryan again. I am not saying anything to him, he is nothing to me just a teacher" Sophie walked away from Imogen and towards her locker, her eyes fixated on the ground.

She accidently bumps into Nikki's shoulder and her bag fell off her shoulder, along with most of the contents. They both mutter the words 'sorry' and Sophie bends down and begins putting things back into her bag, Nikki picks up some of her books and smiles as she hands her the books. Nikki's gaze is suddenly drawn to a clear plastic bag filled with a white powder.

Nikki holds up the small square bag and lets her eyes meet Sophie's. "Sophie what is this?" Nikki's voice is quiet, but assertive. Sophie doesn't answer her mouth falls open and she quickly picks up her bag and runs along the corridors before Nikki has a chance to say anything else. Nikki finds herself going into full army mode as she chases the teenager along the already chaotic corridors, screaming Sophie's name as she continues to run away from the ex-army teacher. Sophie is pushing her way through the groups of students until Nikki reaches for her arm and pulls it up along her back, letting her hand rest on her shoulder blade. Nikki drags Sophie along the corridor towards the cooler, she pushed the door open letting it bang off the wall and pushed Sophie into the room.

Sophie drops her bag onto one of the desks and looks at the teacher who has gone red with anger. "SIT DOWN" Nikki points to one of the desk and Sophie does as she is told and sits at the desk. Nikki holds the bag up and looks down at Sophie who still hasn't said anything. "Why the hell do you have drugs?"

"They aren't mine Miss" Sophie makes eye contact with the teacher for the first time. "I would never have anything to do with drugs"

The bell goes, signalling the end of break and Sophie looks at the door. "You aren't going anywhere until you tell the truth" Nikki looks up to the clock hanging on the wall and back to Sophie. "Mr Clarkson is in here next, let's see if he can get the truth out of you. If he hasn't by lunch time we will have to get Miss Mulgrew and the police involved"

"The drugs aren't mine"

Nikki ignores Sophie as Tom walks in and sees Sophie sitting at the desk and looks at Nikki. "What the hell is she doing in here?" Nikki hands Tom the bag of drugs and his face drops as he looks at Sophie who looks down at the desk. He nods at Nikki as she leaves the room, shutting the door behind him. Tom doesn't say anything for a few moments just clenches his fist around the bag and looks down at Sophie again, his face full of disgust. "What the hell were you thinking Sophie?"

Sophie looks up to Tom and looks him straight in the eye. "I promise you they aren't mine; I would never have anything to do with drugs"

Tom quickly snaps back to the teenager, letting out his anger. "Then how did Miss Boston find these in your bag?"

Sophie looks down at the desk and runs her fingers through her hair, letting the blond curls fall from behind her ears. "I don't know"

"Do you really think your parents would be impressed with you right now? Because I don't" Tom didn't like what he just said, but he didn't know what to say. Sophie quickly looked up to Sophie her eyes darting all around his face.

"No I don't think they would be" Sophie fought back the tears that were forming in her eyes as she thought about her parents. "They would probably be disappointed in me, just like everyone else is. But I know they would at least listen to me"

Tom stood looking down at Sophie for a few moments while he processed what she just said. "Sophie not everyone is disappointed in you"

Before Tom could finish his sentence Sophie interrupted him. "—but you are, aren't you?" Sophie paused as she looked at Tom; she gently closed her eyes and then opened them before saying something else. "Look I am sorry for what I said after the funeral Tom. I really am, but I promise you I that the drugs are not mine and I have no idea how they got in my bag"

Tom nodded before he took a step closer to Sophie's desk. "I am not disappointed in you Sophie; I am just worried about you. We need to find out how these drugs were found on you, you understand that don't you?"

Sophie nods as Tom gives her a reassuring smile, he walked over and pulls a desk up to hers and sits down at it placing the drugs in front of him. Sophie looks down at the drugs and puts her head in her hands and tries to think about how they could have gotten there, she tries to put it to the back of her mind but all she can think about is Danny going into her bag in assembly.

"Has anyone been in your bag today?" Sophie looks up to Tom and shakes her head but her eyes are darting around the room, not able to look Tom in the eye. Tom sighs and puts his hand on Sophie's arm; she tries her best not to flinch away from his touch as he rests on her bruises from Danny. "Soph what aren't you telling me?"

Sophie sighs before turning herself in her chair to face Tom. "Danny went in my bag to get some chewing gum out in assembly, but he wouldn't have anything to do with drugs"

"As in your new boyfriend Danny?" Sophie nods and Tom sighs as the bell goes. "You can go to your next lesson Sophie, the police won't be getting involved" Tom and Sophie both stand up and they walk out of the cooler.

Sophie sees Danny leaning against the wall; he smiles at her and puts his arm around her. She instantly tenses up but pulls away from him. "Wait there, I will be one minute" She runs over to Tom and quickly grabs his arm. "Tom, wait. I just wanted to say that I am really sorry you know, about everything you weren't to know about Ryan and everything he did, I was just upset and angry and I took it out on you, I am sorry"

Tom smiles at Sophie and puts his hand onto Sophie shoulder. "Soph its okay, I am sorry too. I am supposed to be the adult here and I have been worse than you. Listen to me Soph is anything is bothering you, just come and find me yeah?"

"Thanks Tom" Tom pulls Sophie towards him and gives her a quick hug, she forgot how much she really needed him, he was the only family she had left and she had been shutting him out all this time.

Danny quickly comes running over as Sophie is pulling away from Tom, he puts his arm around Sophie and she tries not to tense up as she remembers what he did this morning. Sophie smiles at Tom as Danny walks her away, almost dragging her along the corridor. "Danny what is your problem?"

Danny gets angry and glances around him and sees the corridor is empty and pushes her against the wall holding her back by her wrists. Sophie's face is full of terror as he pins her against the wall, much for violently than he did before. She opens her mouth to tell him to let her go, but she can't get any words out. "You stay away from Clarkson, you got that? You don't talk to him, look at him or even speak about him. I don't know how many more times I have to tell you that I am everything you need now"

"No, Tom isn't just my teacher Danny he is the only family I have left and I am not going to stop talking to him, not for you and not for anyone"

Danny tightens his grip and Sophie's eyes begin to fill with tears. "You are going to Sophie and that is final" He brought his face so close that Sophie could feel his breathe along her cheek and the moisture it possessed. "You are going to confess to having the drugs in your bag and they move you into the PRU, then no more lessons from Clarkson"

Sophie nods in fear and Danny lets go of her wrists and pulls her close to him again, and walks her down to Christine's office. Sophie's face is white and tear stained, she is tense and her hands have gone clammy and they are shaking violently. She leaves Danny as he heads to the PRU and she walks up to Sonya's desk. "I need to speak to Miss Mulgrew, immediately" Her voice is shaky and she is avoiding all types of eye contact.

Sonya nods and opens Christine's office door. "Sorry to interrupt but Sophie Taylor is here and she wants to speak to you, she says it's urgent" Christine nods, after just being informed by Nikki about the drug incident. Sonya waves her hand towards Sophie and the student walks into the office slowly.

Christine is sitting at her meeting table with Nikki, Christine stands up and walks over to her desk pointing at one of the leather chairs that sit opposite her desk. Nikki remains seated and studies Sophie's body language, sensing something isn't right. Sophie sits down on one of the chairs and keeps her eyes focused on her hands. Christine sits back in her chair and waits for Sophie to start talking.

Sophie closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before she looks up to Christine. "It is the drugs Miss, I lied" Sophie's voice is quiet and shaky, her hands are still violently shaking and her face is tear stained all noticed by only Nikki. Christine nods and sits forward on her chair putting her elbows onto the desk as she rests her chin onto her hands. Sophie can feel Nikki's eyes burning into her side and she can tell that she has noticed that she isn't behaving normally.

"Go on" Christine nods and narrows her eyes slightly as she urges Sophie to continue speaking.

"I told Miss Boston and Mr Clarkson that the drugs weren't mine and I had nothing to do with them, but I lied. The drugs are mine, I haven't taken any but they are mine"

Christine remains silent for a moment, to show Sophie that she is in control. "Right, why did you lie then?"

"I was scared about what would happen to me, I know that it was wrong. I am sorry though" Sophie's voice was no longer shaky and her words were no linger quiet, she was growing uncomfortable with Nikki staring at her.

Christine slammed her hands onto the desk and pulled herself up; she hovered over the phone that was resting on her desk. "And that is supposed to make it any better? The fact that you're sorry? Sophie I should be phoning the police right now!"

Nikki quickly stands up and interrupts her boss. "I don't think that would be necessary Christine, how about Sophie joins the PRU and that way we can keep an eye on her" Nikki looks at Christine, who nods in agreement. Nikki looks down at Sophie who is avoiding eye contact, Nikki realising that something isn't right here.

Sophie walks out of the office, letting the tears run down her face. She steps out into the corridor and leans against the wall resting her head back, taking a breath through her nose to try and stop the tears. How could she have been so stupid? She felt the pain run up her arm and she pulled her jumper sleeve revealing the marks that had formed from Danny, she didn't understand how she could let this happen again.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 – Certain Things**

**Sorry these updates are frequent, I have a lot on at school at the moment. Hope you like this chapter, please read and review! *WARNING mention of violence***

It Sophie's first day in the PRU with Danny, since yesterday's drug incident hardly any of the school house residents were talking to Sophie. The sound of Sophie's alarm filled her room; she moaned and raised her arm out of her bed to turn the alarm off. As she rises her arm a harsh pain runs up the inside of her arm, she instantly tenses up her arm as she fights the pain to turn her alarm off. Sophie looked down at her arm and she can see the bruises that have formed overnight, even though it was dark. She fights back the tears as she walks across her room and opens her wardrobe, pulling out her usual uniform. Once dressed she glances in the mirror and sees her arms and the marks are clearly visible, she turns around and pulls her draw open revealing a long, wool burgundy cardigan. She wraps the garment around her petit frame and tries to ignore the images that are flashing around her mind. No matter how hard she tries to stop them all she can see is herself when she was forced to hide the marks that Ryan gave her.

Sophie blinked herself out of her daydream as she slowly opened her bedroom door and walked down the stairs leading into the school house's dining room, she wasn't hungry so she left the school house without having any breakfast. Sophie was strolling down the drive and she jumped suddenly as she felt her phone vibrate in her blazer pocket. She pulled out her phone as read the message that had lit up her screen.

'_Turn around….' _Sophie looked down at the message and cautiously turned around, standing behind her was Danny. Sophie forced a smile onto her face as he put his hands onto shoulders and ran his hands down her arms, letting them getting entwined into her delicate fingers. Danny smiled at Sophie and then draped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek; she closed her eyes and felt herself hold her breath as he placed his rough lips onto her cold skin. Danny didn't notice and they began to walk to school, Sophie feeling more and more scared of what Danny was capable of.

-x-

Meanwhile in the staffroom Nikki was sitting catching up on some of her marking whilst nursing a strong, black coffee. Nikki was trying to keep focused on the task in hand but her mind kept trailing off to what happened yesterday. Nikki knew that something wasn't right with Sophie, she looked petrified in Christine's office and it seemed obvious to her that she was lying.

Nikki was quickly drawn out of her thoughts as Christine walked over to her; Nikki smiled and placed her nearly empty mug onto the wooden table. "Nikki are you certain that moving Sophie Taylor into the PRU was such a good idea?"

"I really think it would be better than phoning the police Christine. Besides I think there is a lot more to this then she is telling us"

Christine looked confused at Nikki's statement, Sophie confessed to having drugs in her possession. "What do you mean?"

"Well yesterday when I was in your office, she wasn't acting normal." Nikki paused as she waiting for Christine's reaction. "What I mean is her face was white and she had been crying, her hands were shaking the entire time and she never once looked you in the eyes.

"So you think she was telling the truth in the first place? She didn't have anything to do with the drugs?"

"I don't know, but something isn't tight here. I am going to talk to Tom, he knows her the best" Just as Nikki had finished her sentence Tom strolled into the staffroom and walked over to the kitchenette to make himself a cup of coffee. Christine tilted her head and Nikki nodded and walked over to Tom. Nikki smiled and Tom could sense that she had something to say. "Tom, can I have a word please? It's about Sophie"

Tom followed Nikki out of the staffroom and into the corridor. Tom looked at Nikki and glanced around the deserted corridor. "Nik what's wrong why did this have to be so private?"

Nikki looked at Tom and thought carefully about what words to choose here, he still didn't know that Sophie confessed to having the drugs. "Yesterday afternoon Sophie came to Christine's office and confessed to having the drugs Tom. She said she hadn't taken any but that they were hers"

Tom shook his head slightly, as if he was trying to forget what Nikki had just told him. "What do you mean? She told me that they weren't her, I believed her. Did Christine phone the police then?"

"No I persuaded her to just move her into the PRU. But Tom I don't think Sophie was telling the truth when she confessed to Christine, she was a complete nervous wreck Tom she was shaking"

"What do you want me to do?" Tom spoke quiet, it sounded harsh but he was in shock.

"Talk to her Tom, find out if anything is bothering her because something isn't right" Tom nodded and smiled at Nikki as the bell rang out signalling the start of school. Nikki left Tom and she walked over to her form classroom. Nikki smiled to some of the students already waiting outside and opened the door letting the students pile into the room.

Nikki strolled over to her desk, putting her black leather bag down to the side of her desk, and sat down into the chair. Nikki was sitting flicking through some of her books and kept glancing at the door whenever it opened. Finally Sophie walked it, she was keeping her head down and she had pulled her cardigan sleeves over her hands and her hair was falling over her pale face. Sophie walked over to a spare desk; Nikki looked confused as she usual sits with Imogen at the back of the classroom. Sophie sank down further into the seat keeping her eyes locked on her hands as she played with the pieces of loose thread that were on her sleeve.

Nikki glanced over at Imogen as she looked over to her friend with a face of equal confusion to Nikki but with a hint of anger. Nikki stood up from her desk and looked over to Imogen. "Imogen can I have a word outside please?" Imogen nods and follows the teacher outside of the classroom.

Once out of the classroom Nikki closed the door and glanced into the glass window and then back to Imogen. "Is something wrong Miss?"

Nikki smiled down at Imogen reassuring her. "No, well I don't think so. I was just wondering what has happened between you and Sophie, I thought you were good friends?"

Imogen glanced into the classroom and saw Sophie sitting at the desk, she looked back to Nikki. "Well we were but then she got that new boyfriend Danny Knight and he told us to stay away from her. Said something about her being his and nobody else's, Sophie didn't seem to argue she just follows his orders"

"Right thank you Imogen" Nikki opened the door and Imogen walked back into the classroom, Nikki knew what this sounded like but she refused to believe it. The bell rang out and people started to head to their first lessons, Nikki walked over to Sophie as she was picking up her bag. "Sophie, I will walk you to the PRU"

Sophie put her bag onto her shoulder and looked up at the teacher. "No it is fine; Danny said we should meet up"

"Danny can meet you in the lesson, come on" Nikki lead the way and Sophie followed her, she didn't seem disappointed about not walking with Danny she had a more fearful expression on her face, this doesn't go unnoticed by Nikki.

Nikki and Sophie are walking to the PRU, Sophie is keeping her head down and Nikki is just holding the doors open for her. Sophie glanced up as she heard her name being called out, it is Danny. Sophie stops walking and expects Nikki to walk to the classroom as it is only a few metres away from them, but she doesn't she stays standing next Sophie almost protecting her.

"Sophie I told you to wait for me" Danny's voice is filled with anger and humiliation. Danny was standing close to Sophie, totally oblivious that Nikki was standing next to her.

Sophie looked up to Danny and went to open her mouth but Nikki put her hand onto her shoulder and spoke for her. "Danny?" He moved his gaze form Sophie and looked up to the teacher. "I wanted to speak to Sophie before we got to class"

Danny nods and looks back down to Sophie, she looks into his eyes and she can see the anger filling up inside of him. She tries to block out the images that were threatening to come flooding back as she remembered what happened to her last time he looked at her like that. Danny puts his arm around Sophie and walks her to the PRU door, Nikki walking behind them.

Nikki unlocks the classroom door and the class begins to pile in all sitting in their assigned seats, Danny walks Sophie over to his desk and points to the chair next to his. She follows his instructions and sits down at the desk, her eyes darting around the room trying to take in her surroundings.

"Sophie, can you come and sit at the front please?" Nikki pointed at the desk that was opposite form hers, Sophie looks at the empty desk and before she had a chance to move Danny spoke up.

"Why does she need to sit there?" Danny had hold of Sophie's arm as he waiting for Nikki's response.

"Because Mr Knight I don't want her sitting with you, I need to keep an eye on Sophie" Sophie looks at Danny and he shakes his head, Nikki looks at Sophie's face and she can see the tears that are in her eyes and walks over to their desk. "Come on Sophie" Nikki points to the desk as the rest of the class are turned around staring at the back of the classroom, grinning to themselves.

Sophie stands up but Danny's grip gets tighter around her arm, causing Sophie to flinch as he puts pressure on her already bruised arm. "Danny let go of Sophie, she will only be at the front" Nikki's voice is stern and Danny does as he is told and lets Sophie go and glares at Nikki. Sophie walks over to the desk at the front of the classroom and Nikki gives her a warming smile which she weakly returns.

-x-

The bell rang out and Sophie avoided Nikki as she left the PRU for break time. She felt Danny put his arm over her shoulder; she flinched by his touch and this only made his hold onto her even stronger. Danny guided them towards the canteen; Sophie glanced up as she heard her name being called out. Sophie couldn't help but feel a sigh of relief when she saw Tom walking towards them, she looked up to Danny as his grip got tighter and his hand moved down to her waist.

Sophie shivered in fear as she felt Danny's breath on her face as he whispered something into her ear. "Remember what I said, stay away from him"

Tom walked up the Sophie; his face was full of concern but also a sense of betrayal. "Sophie can I have a word?" Tom moved his gaze to Danny. "Alone" Danny was about to say something but Sophie had already followed Tom into his classroom. Tom closed the door slowly and turned around to face Sophie who was pale, her hands tucked in her cardigan sleeves and you could slightly tell that they were shaking. Tom stood for one moment looking at Sophie before he said anything; he walked over to her and stood in front of her.

He coughed to make her look up; she jumped by this sudden noise and looked up her eyes full of terror. "I am not going to talk about the drugs because to be honest I can't believe you lied to me and Miss Boston. But what I will Soph is that I am worried about you" He paused and looked at Sophie, she didn't react and he looked into her face and it was full of terror, her eyes were dark and empty. "Soph are you alright, what is going on?"

Sophie moved her eyes back to the floor. "I am fine Tom, just leave me alone" Sophie felt the guilt boil up inside as she spoke to Tom, she didn't want to tell him to leave her alone but Danny said she wasn't supposed to talk to him and right now she didn't want to get him any angrier.

Tom looked at Sophie in confusion. "What? Sophie it is obvious something has happened, what is it? Tell me, please" Tom was practically pleading with Sophie, but she didn't say anything she just looked at him her tears threatening to fall. "Sophie what is it?"

Sophie blinked quickly and made her voice slightly louder and harsher. "It's nothing; I am fine I just don't want to speak to you anymore. You're no longer my teacher so I don't have to pretend that I forgive you. Goodbye Tom"

Sophie walked out of the room, knocking Tom's shoulder as he remained standing in the room. She walked out onto the corridor and Danny ran up to her pushing her against the wall, she didn't try to fight it. "You took your time, I told you not to talk to him"

"I know and I am sorry, I've told him to stay away from me" Sophie's mouth was dry and her speech was empty, she showed no emotion. Her head was spinning as she tried to process what just happened, she ignored the pain that was in her arm as Danny was dragging her along the corridor towards the PRU as the bell rang out throughout the school.

-x-

School had finished and Sophie and Danny were both sitting upstairs in Sophie's room at the school house. Sophie was sitting at her desk staring at her computer and she could see Danny lying on her bed in the reflection on her computer screen. Sophie looked down at her clock and sees that it is nearly nine, she sighs and silently turns around to look at Danny. She slowly stands up and takes a few steps and she arrives at her bedroom door. She silently raises her arm and lets her warm, clammy palm touch the cold, harsh steel handle. As she puts her hand on the handle she feels a strong hand on her shoulder pulling her around and pinning her against the door, the handle digging into the lower back. Sophie whimpers in pain as Danny looked down at her face in disgust. "I told you to stay in here tonight, where were you going?"

Sophie tried to move but Danny had hold of her and he was too strong. "I was hungry, I was only getting some food" Sophie looked at Danny's face as she watched his gritted teeth and felt the tears fill in her eyes.

"I thought I told you that I didn't want you having dinner tonight, you told me you felt sick and if you are ill you shouldn't be eating" Sophie nods and feels a tear fall down her face, instantly regretting it, Danny runs his cold, course finger across her face wiping the tear away. Sophie lip trembles as she feels his breath against her cheek, she tenses up as Danny rests his hand on her waist and moves it around to the top of her leg. Sophie tries to move but she is frozen in fear, Danny runs his finger along her lip and she feels the tears begin to fall. Danny looked into her flooded eyes and smirks, dangerously. Sophie closes her eyes as her mind drags her back to when she was attacked by Ryan's gang, she tries to open her eyes to get rid of the images but they don't open. She feels Danny put his lips against her own as he unbuttons her blouse, violently, she doesn't react and he gets stronger as she gets weaker. All she could do was close her eyes praying for this to stop.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 – Certain Things**

**I know that I am not very good at updating but I am really busy with school at the moment. Hope you are enjoying this FF, please read and review. Sorry this is a short chapter.**

The bedroom was dark and the only light was the street lights in the street that was streaming through the open window, the rain was battering off the cold glass making the muffled tears become silent. There was a small shaking figure huddled up in the corner of the room, her head tucked up into her fragile knees. The wooden floor of the bedroom was just as cold as the window and had scattered garments of clothing about the floor, all of which were ripped. Sophie sat in the corner of the room, her hand up against her trembling lip, her mouth was dry and her face was a pale white. Sophie was only wearing her underwear and her blouse was hanging off her shoulder. She is sitting staring at the door her eyes red from crying until she couldn't breathe; her eyes had dark circles under them showing how she hadn't slept all night. Her whole body was shaking in fear and her skin was covered in scratches, bruises and red marks from where she had tried to fight Danny off of her, but he was too strong. Sophie staggers off the floor placing her shaking hands against the walls to try and pull her fragile body off the cold, hard wooden floor. She wrapped her blouse around her body, trying to hide her body from herself. She picked up her dressing gown and walked into the shower. Sophie let the boiling water splash off her abused body as she scrubbed her skin until it was red, trying to get the scent off of her skin. Once showered she pulls on her uniform and applies her makeup. Her body is hunched over the sink as she brings her face closer to the mirror and wraps her hand around her wrist to try and steady her hand as she applies her eye makeup. Unable to get it even she rinses it off her face, letting the cold harsh water drip down as she stares at herself in the mirror.

Sophie silently walks down the stairs of the school house and towards the front door, she slowly opens the door and the wind takes her breath away as she steps out into the early morning. The streets are deserted and the street lights are just starting to turn off, she slowly walks into the direction of the local gas station. Sophie buys a bouquet of flowers and walks towards the graveyard. She stands at the gate holding the flowers close to her chest and she feels a lump form in her throat, she takes a deep breath and walks over to her parent's graves. Sophie stands in front of them both and the tears begin to from in her eyes, she doesn't make an effort in stopping them as she lets the fall down her face. Her hands shake as she bends down and places the flowers onto their graves, she remains knelt on the grass as she runs her delicate finger across the engraves stone and whispers "I miss you" to both graves.

She takes a deep breath and stands up from the ground; she looks down at the gravestones and walks a few metres until she reaches the bench that sits opposite their graves. Sophie's eyes are locked open as she stares at her parents' graves, her lips slightly parted and her heart beating a million times per minute. Her thoughts are quickly cut short as she feels her phone vibrate next to her, she glances down at the name that it lighting up her phone screen, her lips start to tremble and her hands begin to shake even more violently as she sees Danny's name on her screen. She feels a breath rush out of her body as she begins to feel his hands exploring her body and pinning her down onto her bedroom floor, her mind plays tricks on her as she jumps thinking she feels his hands clasped around her mouth stopping her screaming.

She slowly slides her finger across the screen and holds the phone up to her face. Before she has a chance to speak her ears are being filled with his threatening voice. "Where are you?" Sophie opens her mouth but no words come out, his voice puts her into shock and she is struggling to breath as she looks down at her parents graves and prays that she could have them sitting next to her right now wrapping their loving arms around her, protecting her from the world. "Sophie, where the hell are you?"

"I…um…I am at the grave yard Danny, visiting my parent's grave"

"Why? No, it doesn't matter I don't care; wait for me outside the school gates. I will see you in ten minutes, don't be late" Before Sophie has a chance to respond Danny put the phone down, she slowly stood up from the bench and began to walk to school, she felt the pain in her back as she stood up and she felt the tears form in her eyes. She lifted her arm and the pain shot up and she bit down on her lip as she wiped the tears away with the back of her hand.

-x-

Nikki was standing outside of the school on the yard, on morning duty. Nikki's dark chocolate hair was blowing over her face, she raised her hand and ran her fingers through it and wrapped it behind her ears. She stuffed her hands into her back jeans pocket and stood overlooking the students walking into the school. Nikki's mind started to travel back to yesterday in the PRU when Danny was holding onto Sophie's arm, she kept trying to put it out of her mind but she couldn't. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop picturing Sophie's face and how petrified she looks when she is around him. Nikki brought herself out of her daydream as she heard the school gates rattle. Nikki's eyes darted across the yard and her eyes squinted as she tried to focus on what was going on, she began to walk over to try and figure out what she could see. Nikki quickly realised that she could see Danny's face and he was holding someone against the gates.

Nikki's pace quickened as she realised what she was seeing. "Oi, let go of her" Nikki runs up to Danny and pulls him off Sophie, Danny tries to get out of Nikki's grasp but she is too strong. "Calm down, now" Her voice is stern and full of power.

Sophie is still up against the gate and her face is full of terror, she steps forward and her hands are still shaking she wraps her jumper sleeves around her hands to try and disguise their violent movement. "Miss let go of him"

Nikki ignores what she is saying and her eyes are full of concern as she looks down to the trembling teenager that is standing in front of her. "Sophie are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

Danny pulls away from Nikki and answers for his girlfriend. Nikki still has hold of his arm, fearful of what he might do. "What? Of course she is, aren't you Sophie?" Sophie nods and tries to force a weak smile, but she fails and can't bring her lips to even move. Nikki's eyes scan Sophie's face silently and she notices the bruises around her mouth from where Danny held her mouth shut to stop her from screaming.

Nikki shakes the thought out of her head and lets her grip get tighter around Danny's arm; she pushes him forward onto the school yard. "You get inside, I want to speak to Sophie" Danny looks at Sophie and she follows him into the school, always being two steps behind him. Nikki puts her hand onto Sophie's upper arm and she flinches away from the teacher's touch and her eyes are full of fear as if Nikki had just put a hot flame against her bare skin. Nikki pulls a puzzled expression as Sophie moves her jumper over her hands even more and gently rubs her upper arm where Nikki had just touched. "Sophie are you sure you are alright?"

Sophie nods and mumbles under her breath, barely audible but Nikki manages to fathom out what she is saying. "I just want to be left alone"

Nikki sighs and steps slightly closer to Sophie looking down at the petrified teenager. Nikki brings her voice down so it is quiet and gentle. "Sophie why are you with Danny?"

Sophie's eyes seem to look everywhere apart from Nikki's face, her breathing increases and her shaking palms become clammy. She pauses for a moment to try and get her breath back and tilts her head up, trying to go back to the cocky girl she once was. "What do you mean?"

"Sophie you look petrified whenever you are near him and not all boyfriends pin their girlfriends against walls" Nikki soon regrets what she just said as Sophie's mouth drops open slightly as if she is about to respond but she doesn't instead she quickly turns around, causing a terrible pain to shoot up her back, and walks past Nikki towards the school entrance. Sophie soon finds herself running towards the doors as she hears Nikki call her back.

-x-

Maggie is in Christine's office biting down on her thumb and pacing the office floor, telling Christine that Sophie wasn't there when she woke up this morning. "Christine her bed hadn't been slept in and she didn't come down for breakfast"

Christine sighs and reassures Maggie. "Maggie trust me it will be fine, she would have just left for school early. We will wait until form and see if she turns off, I will go and speak to Nikki now" Maggie nods and leaves the office; Christine quickly follows her and heads into the staffroom. She looks over as she sees the door open and Nikki walk into the room placing her empty coffee mug onto the counter. "Nikki, can I have a word?"

Nikki looks up nods and walks over to Christine. "Is something wrong?"

"Maggie has just informed me that Sophie Taylor wasn't at the school house when she woke up this morning and her bed hadn't been slept in. If she isn't in form, can you come and tell me?"

"I have just seen Sophie with Danny Knight" Christine lets out a sigh of relief, knowing that she is safe. "Look Christine I am really worried about her"

"Who? Sophie?" Nikki nods. "Well why, what has she done?"

Nikki's eyes dart around the room as she selects the words to choose, she runs her fingers through her hair. "Well from what I saw of Sophie this morning it looked like Danny was being very forceful towards her" Christine looks at her with a confused expression. "Christine he had her pinned against the school railings"

Christine's eyes instantly widen as she hears what Nikki is saying. "Nikki we can't just jump to conclusions here, what you think you saw might be very different from what actually happened. How about for now we just keep an eye on her and see how things go?"

Nikki nods and smiles as Christine leaves her and heads back into her office, Nikki turns around on her heels and walks over to one of the burgundy cushioned seats. She sits down into the chair next to Tom's. "Tom I need to speak to you" Tom outs his newspaper down and looks at Nikki. "It is about Sophie" Tom sighs and shakes his head as he remembers what she said to him. "Tom listen to me, I am really worried about her"

Tom laughs sarcastically. "Sophie is nothing to do with me, she made that perfectly clear"

"Why? What happened? I thought you made it up with her?"

Tom sighs and takes a breath through his nose as he tries to hide his feelings, something he learnt from Sophie. "Well I thought we did too until she told me to stay away from her and she only said that things were alright because I was her teacher"

Nikki sighs. "Tom are you sure that is what she said?"

"Of course I'm sure Nik; I know what she told me" Tom and Nikki stand up off their chairs as the bell goes and they walk out of the staffroom.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 – Certain Things**

**Thank you for the people who are reviewing this FF, I am going to try and update this more often until I have completed it. I don't think there will be much more chapters for this FF. Hope you are enjoying this FF, please review!**

It has been six months since Sophie's parents died and she and Tom were still avoiding each other. The sun isn't shining down over Greenock, the mist is still thick and the rain that is pouring down is making the streets almost deserted. Tom is driving to school and his face is drawn, his eyes have dark circles underneath. Tom drives past the groups of students running into school to try and free themselves from the rain; he pulls into the car park and drives into one of the free spaces. Once parked he remains in his car for a few moments, he is staring out of the front window watching the students run into the school. He notices Sophie walking in with Danny wrapping his arm around her; he notices that she looks uncomfortable and scared. He tries to dismiss it but the more he looks the more he notices. Tom watched as Sophie is practically guided by Danny, he watched as Danny brought his lips down to hers and she just froze and became stiff and he put his hand on the back of her head and brought her lips towards his. Tom put his hands on the steering wheel and his knuckles turned white from the force, he tried to ignore the images flashing through his mind of the night of the crash and his best friends dead and Sophie lying on the hospital bed. He quickly swings his car door open and steps out of his car, the mixture of wind and rain brought his mind back to reality.

Tom walks across the school yard and engaged in polite greetings with overly excited students, he walked past Sophie's locker and he suddenly felt someone's eyes burn through the back of his skull. Tom turned around and saw Sophie quickly look down, he clenched his teeth and continued to walk to the staffroom. He walked over to the kitchenette and made himself a cup of coffee, his hands were shaking slightly and he didn't know why. He didn't think that he would still be this upset over the death of Steven and Julia, he was coping relatively well when it happened but maybe that was when he had Sophie. He brought himself out of his thoughts as the boiling water from the kettle splashed onto his skin; he cursed under his breath and quickly ran his hand under the cold water for a few minutes. After drying his hand he picked up his mug and slowly walked over to one of the chairs and placed his bag down at his feet and sank into the chair bringing the mug up to his face breathing in the steam.

He let his eyes look towards the door as he heard the familiar voice of Nikki and she smiled at him weakly, he nodded back at her. Nikki slowly walked over to Tom and sat down next to him. "Hey Tom, how are you feeling?"

Tom sighed and realised that he was going to have to be honest with someone. "Honestly Nik I'm not doing well, I am going to go to their graves afterschool and pay my respects"

Nikki nodded along with him, understanding what he must be feeling after losing friends when she was in the army. "Well if you need to take a break at any point just give me a ring"

Nikki smiled at her friend and he nodded slightly whilst putting his mug down onto the coffee table. "Thanks Nik" Nikki nods and understands when Tom gets up and walks out of the staffroom, finding the people too much and he heads towards his classroom.

Tom is keeping his head down and strolling along the corridor rather than walking, he looks up as he hears someone calling his name. He turns around to see Nikki walking towards him. "Tom I was thinking" She paused and looked at her friend. "How about you take Sophie with you after school, she will want to see her parents"

"I don't know Nik"

"Tom you should because if you don't she won't go, do you really think Danny will want her to go?" Nikki speaks quietly and knows that what she is saying is true, she has her suspicions about Danny and if they are correct he won't want her going to the graveyard.

"Look Nik I will go with her if she asks or even talks to me at any point today" Nikki sighs and nods as the bell goes, signalling first period.

-x-

After a long first period the bell finally rang signalling break time. The PRU filled with sighs of relieves from both the students and Nikki, Nikki walked from the back of the classroom over to the front as she placed her pen onto her desk as she addressed her students. "We will be working on the essay this afternoon, so leave them here" The students started to file out as they walked into the already chaotic students. Nikki's blue eyes quickly scanned the room and stopped as they landed on Sophie and Danny leaving the room. "Sophie can I have a word" Nikki moved her gaze from Sophie to Danny, squinting her eyes as she looked at Danny's possessive movements. "Could you please leave Danny, the bell has gone"

Danny glared at Nikki before releasing his grip from Sophie's shoulder, she involuntarily breathed out as his strong hand left her shoulder. Sophie kept her eyes locked on the floor as she sat down at the desk, her hands in her lap wrapped up in her cardigan. Danny strutted out of the PRU, closing the door with more force than necessary. Nikki moved her eyes from the door down to Sophie and pulled out a chair from one of the other desk placing it down next to the teen, Sophie jumped slightly as the metal chair legs scrapped along the floor and hit the ground as Nikki gently placed it down.

"Sophie are you feeling alright? I know about what day it is, Tom told me" Sophie stiffened as she heard Tom's name. She didn't speak she just shrugged, she tries to speak but she can't physically open her mouth. Sophie feels her emotions taking over her body as she pictures her parent's body on the concrete, her ears fill with the terrifying screams form that night, Sophie closes her eyes as she tries to block out the images but she can't stop it. She knows well enough now that she isn't supposed to speak to anyone apart from Danny so she doesn't. "Sophie if you ever want to speak to someone, you can speak to me"

Sophie slowly nods and attempts to make some eye contact but her eyes automatically dodge her teachers. Sophie silently stands up off her chair and walks out of the PRU to see Danny standing eagerly waiting for her. Danny walks up to her and forcefully wraps his arm around her. "I have to go out of school for a few hours, I will be back after lunch though" Sophie nods and closes her eyes as he brings his lips towards hers, she doesn't react or copy his action she just lets his lips touch hers. It isn't a romantic kiss, it sends shivers up her spine and makes her feel physically sick when he touches her she has to stop herself from flinching away from him. Her breathing rate increases as she tries to fight back the tears and tries to relax herself.

Danny leaves her standing in the yard. "Remember to stay away from everyone" Sophie nods and he walks out of the school gates. Sophie feels oddly scared, she knows that Danny wouldn't find out if she broke any of his 'rules' but she knows what would happen if she did. Sophie is standing on the yard feeling the wind blow against her weak, fragile body and her blonde hair is blown out of her face. She suddenly jumps as the bell goes and she walks towards the PRU for her next lesson. The lesson drags and Sophie spent the lesson sitting quietly at the back of the class, keeping her sleeves down and silently shaking.

It is finally lunch time and Sophie makes her way to the canteen, she walks past Kevin and Imogen and they look at her oddly because for once since she got with Danny he isn't standing by her side, wrapping his arm around her body keeping her close to him. Imogen watches as her friend walks past them keeping her head down, dodging the other students that were walking towards her. "Kevin should we go and speak to Sophie, she isn't with Danny?"

Kevin looks at Imogen and speaks into his locker. "I'd rather not get into a fight with her psycho boyfriend" Imogen nods and watches as Sophie walk's into the canteen.

Sophie is standing in the queue waiting for her food, her blue tray clenched in her hands and her knuckles turning white due to the force she is putting onto the tray. Nikki and Tom are sitting in the canteen and Nikki looks up to see Sophie standing, she turns to Tom and see whether he is looking at her. "Tom do you think Sophie is alright?"

Nikki gestures in Sophie's direction and Tom moves his head across the canteen. Tom ignores his conscious telling him that something is wrong; anyone can tell that Sophie isn't alright. Sophie's face is pale, she constantly looks frightened and is shaking, she looks dangerously skinny and the girl who used to talk in her sleep never talks at all. Tom ignored Nikki telling him to go and talk to her and continued to stab at his food. "Nik just leave it yeah?" Nikki sighed and looked over at Sophie. Sophie glanced up and caught Tom's eye they both held the gaze for a few moments until the words of Danny's threats filled Sophie's ears and she quickly looked away and dropped her empty tray onto the floor before rushing out of the canteen, suddenly feeling her emotions getting the better of her.

Sophie runs into the corridor and freezes as she takes a deep breath and tilts her head back as she tries to get the images of her parents and the accident out of her mind. As she pushes the doors open leading onto the yard she feels the impact of the lorry crash into her and the images soon fade away as the sounds of sirens fill her ears and she is standing on the yard, her now straw-like hair blowing over her shoulder as she runs her fingers in her hair, her sleeves falling down her skeleton like arms making some of her marks visible. As she turns herself around letting her eyes scan the yard a pain shoots up her spine and she feels the bruises on her back from last night, she ignores the pain as her dark, empty eyes scan the yard. Her eyes finally see Kevin standing with Connor, Imogen and Dynasty.

She walks over and ignores the looks from Dynasty as she stands in front of Kevin, wanting to wrap her arms around her best friend and never let him go. She stood there for a few moments feeling her chest rise with each breath as she slowly opened her mouth to speak, something she hadn't done in a while. Her voice was shaky, much like her hands. "Kevin please I need to speak to you"

Kevin didn't let his eyes move from the concrete they were fixated on, he felt his mouth become more and more moist and he breathed deeper as Sophie spoke to him. "No Sophie. Just go" The words sounded empty and carefree, although it was killing him not being able to talk to her.

Kevin was trying his hardest not to look at Sophie, she realised this and she stared to panic. Ignoring the pain that was filling her body as her mind played yet another trick on her as she felt Danny's warm breath all over her skin and the images of Danny pinning her to the floor slowly crawl back into her mind. "Kevin look at me" Sophie paused as she waited for Kevin to react, he didn't. The anger filled up inside of Sophie and she screamed his name, causing some other students to look over to the group of teenagers. "Look at me Kevin!" Kevin looks up at her, his eyes widening as he takes in all her changes, the bruises on her arms and the fear in her eyes. The crowds of people start to form and Nikki emerges from the school and runs over to where Sophie is. "Kevin if you are too scared to look at me, imagine what he is doing to me"

Sophie feels the tears run down her face as Kevin looks away, Sophie suddenly feels all the eyes on her and she quickly runs past the crowds of students ignoring the calls from Nikki.

Nikki watches as Sophie runs past her and she quickly turns back to Kevin. "Right you lot get back to your lunch" Nikki kept her eyes locked on Kevin as the crowd slowly faded away. "Kevin with me" Nikki led the way to the cooler, keeping Kevin close by her. Nikki opens the door to the cooler and allows Kevin to enter. "Sit down please" Kevin does as he is told and sat down on the nearest desk. "So are you going to tell me what happened between you and Sophie?"

Kevin was sitting with his hands on the desk. "I don't know, she just came over asking to talk and I said no"

Nikki looked at Kevin confusingly; she stepped slightly closer to Kevin and leaned against the desk that was next to his. "Why did you not want to talk to her, I thought you two were close?"

Kevin sighed and felt the guilt run over him. "We were but her boyfriend told me to stay away from her, along with everyone else"

"Right, what happened after you told her to go?"

"She started screaming at me telling me to look at her, then you turned up and nothing was said after that" Nikki looked down at Kevin and nodded and told him to go, he slowly walked out of the cooler as Nikki remained leaning against the desk. She let out a sigh as she remembered the marks on her arms and what she was saying to Kevin. _Imagine what he is doing to me._

-x-

Sophie was sitting in the school house with Danny, she is sitting on the edge of her bed her whole body shaking as Danny stand by the wall. She looks up at him her eyes full of fear and tears, she is almost pleading with him. "You know what I told you Sophie. I said not to talk to talk to anyone and what did you do?" Danny looked down at his girlfriend and smirked at the sight of her fear. "Screamed at Kevin, that's what. You know I should have killed you as well that night"

Sophie felt her breathing increase as she turns her body to look at Danny she spoke in disgust and confusion. "What?"

Danny smiled and stepped off the wall, coming closer to Sophie. "Oh you don't know? I was driving the car that killed your parents and the lorry driver? Your charming big brother"

Sophie's forehead was resting on her palm as she was leaning over her bed, looking down at the floor. She tilted her head and her vision was slightly blurred due to her tears. "You and Ryan killed my parents and put me in a coma?"

Danny laughed sarcastically, which sent shivers up Sophie spine and made her slightly uncomfortable. Danny spoke in a menacing voice and his face lit up at the sight of Sophie's fear and upset. "Yes Sophie that is right, look you've learnt something today. It was your own fault." Sophie looked at him confused. "What was the one thing we told you? We told you if you tell anyone we would take away everything you had"

Sophie stood up and suddenly all the fear she was feeling was gone, she didn't know how or why it just did. "But I never told anyone"

"You don't remember do you? You told Kevin that night" Sophie's face drops and her eyes dart around the room as she tries to think of what to do next, Danny is standing grinning at her.

Sophie walks towards the door but Danny quickly runs and wraps his hand around her wrist, she looks into his eyes and speaks through her gritted teeth. "Let go of me" Danny pushes her against the door and puts his weight against her, she feels something against her skin. She feels shivers run along her skin as a cold, hard object is pressed against it. Sophie glances down and sees Danny holding a gun against her stomach; she feels her breathing increase and her chest rise up and down as she tries to keep in her fear.

Danny brings his face to hers and speaks into her ear. "Now come on Sophie, don't do anything stupid and neither will I. We are leaving tomorrow and you will not say anything to anyone or I will us this, and we wouldn't want that would we?" Sophie shakes her head slowly as her mouth is slightly parted and the tears threatening to fall. "Right, good girl now meet me outside of the school tomorrow lunch and we will get out of this place, and don't tell anyone or I will not be responsible for me actions, you will be"

Danny pushes Sophie to the side and she collapses against the wall and she falls to the floor, her back resting against the wall. As Danny leaves the room and closes the door behind him Sophie brings her knees up to her face and lets the tears fall down her pale, delicate face. She silently sobs as her poorly lit room soon turns dark.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 – Certain Things**

**This is the final chapter to this FF, I know this hasn't been very good and I am really sorry. Please review what you thought about this FF, I love to read them!**

Sophie was woken up by yet another text message from Danny. She ignored it and got herself dressed, she examined the marks on her arms, stomach, back and legs. She feels physically sick as she thinks about what happened last night, the feel of the gun on her stomach and Danny's harsh breath on her neck. Sophie unintentionally slams the school house door shut as she begins to walk to school, her pace is quick and on edge. She reaches the school gates and her eyes are darting around the faces as she walks past the students. Sophie stops as she sees Tom's car and she feels a lump form in her throat as she thinks about how she isn't going to see him every again. She shakes her head in an attempt to ignore her emotions and begins to walk across the yard.

She walks past Dynasty as she shouts over to Sophie. "No psycho boyfriend again? Must have realised how pathetic you really are!" Sophie takes a deep breath and ignores her and walks towards her locker, she opens it notices her hands are shaking more than usual. As she raises her arm the pain becomes unbearable and she whimpers slightly, she wraps her hand around her arm in an attempt to make the pain stop. She pulls a notebook out from her locker and walks towards the Common Room, keeping her head down and her hand wrapped around her arm. She opens the door and her eyes automatically look over to where Kevin always is before school, and sure enough he is there frantically revising for some test. Sophie puts her head down and walks over to the other side of the room and sits down at one of the round tables and places the notebook onto the desk, she leans down to her bag and shuts her eyes as the pain covers her back and she pulls out a pen. She feels the tears begin to form in her eyes as she writes on the clear page. _Dear Tom…_

Sophie's hands are shaking so the writing is scruffy and just readable but after half an hour she writes her final line on the letter. _But I need you to know how grateful I am to have you in my life, I will miss you and I am sorry._ She wipes the tear that has fallen down her face and rips the page out of her book and folds it as neatly as possible. She puts it into her pocket and walks to the PRU as the bell goes off, signalling first period. As she is walking down the corridor she freezes as she feels her pocket vibrate, she pulls out her phone and her eyes widen as she reads the message from Danny. '_I am picking you up at the end of lunch, don't be late or Tom will get it'._ Sophie's breathing rate increases as her hands shake and she struggles to out her phone back into her pocket, she walks towards the PRU but she finds herself passing Tom's classroom, she glances in as she passes the glass as if she is checking he is alright. Sophie feels the guilt build up inside of her and she sees Tom standing in front of his class, she forces herself to look assay as she realises she is already late for her lesson.

Sophie finally arrives at the PRU and slowly opens the door and walks to her seat, Nikki doesn't say anything she just nods at her and Sophie weakly smiles back to her. Barry Barry watches Sophie as she walks in, without Danny, and notices Nikki not say anything. He speaks up in his rich Liverpudlian accent. "Miss how come Sophie gets away with being late?"

Nikki raises her eyebrow at Barry, as he sits back in his seat. Nikki knows he couldn't be saying anything if Danny was with her, but he wasn't so nothing was stopping him. "What Barry?"

"Well I am just saying if I walked in late you would scream your head off" Barry smiled smugly at Nikki as Sophie sank into her seat as she feels the eyes burn into the back of her skull.

"Shut up Barry and get on with some work" Nikki glares at Barry then brings her eyes down to Sophie and noticed that is more on edge than usual. Nikki dismisses the thought and brings her attention back to the lesson.

-x-

The bell goes signalling lunch and Sophie's entire body jumps at the sudden noise, she feels physically sick as she thinks about Danny. Sophie leaves the PRU fast and makes her way towards Tom's classroom, she pushes past a group of year nine's and it sends a harsh pain up her back and she flinches from the pain. The group look at her with a mixture of concern and amusement as she cradles her shoulder. Sophie ignores them and peers into Tom's classroom and sees that it is empty; she glances around the corridor and opens the door. Sophie walks up to his desk and the room is filled with the sound of Sophie's heels clicking against the floor, she pulls the letter out of her blazer pocket and runs it between her fingers in an attempt to iron out the creases. She places the letter onto the desk and looks around the room, she feels the guilt hit her again as she sees a picture stuffed into piles of paperwork on his desk.

As she pulls the picture out from between the paperwork her eyes instantly fill with tears, one of the tears splash onto the picture and she raises her shaking hand and runs one of her fragile fingers across the picture to wipe it away. She feels her heart sink into the ground as she stares at the picture taken this time last year. Sophie looks at all the faces and how happy they are her mum and dad, Tom and her. Sophie takes a deep breath as she puts the picture back onto the desk; she quickly walks out of the classroom and walks into the now empty corridor. She looks down to the direction of the canteen and hears the noise of students; she knows Tom will be in there. She begins to walk in that direction but she sees Tom stand up from his table and walk over to the tray rack. Sophie quickly turns around on her heels and walks out of the corridor onto the staircase, keeping Tom's classroom in sight.

Sophie watches as Tom walks down the corridor, tapping his hand onto his jeans as he walked, she let a smile creep onto her face as she took in possible final image of what she had left of a family. Sophie knows that Tom will almost instantly see the letter and she leans against the wall and tries to control her breathing, she looks down at her phone and sees she has a missed call from Danny. She begins to panic and she looks down the corridor and she can't see Tom in his classroom and her heart begins to pound against her chest as she thinks about the things that might have happened to him. Without thinking she runs down the corridor and suddenly the classroom door swings open and Tom bursts out, Sophie freezes as she sees he is holding the letter.

Sophie looks at Tom's face and sees the tears forming in his eyes, Tom opens his mouth slightly and his words come out confused. "What do you mean you are leaving?"

Tom stands in the corridor staring at Sophie, he watches as Sophie moves her eyes around his face and avoiding his eyes. "I mean that I am leaving, today"

"Soph please don't go I am sorry if I pushed you away I didn't mean to. I promised you parents I would keep you safe" Tom pauses as he watches Sophie. "Please Soph" Tom's eyes had flooded with tears and he ran his tongue over his lips to try and regain their moisture.

"Tom don't make this anymore harder than it has to be" Sophie was fighting back her tears but failing miserably, her voice was tired and weak.

"Then stay, don't go"

Sophie paused and looked at Tom. She gave Tom the letter so this didn't happen, so she didn't have to explain herself. "I don't have a choice, I have to go"

"What do you mean you don't have a choice?" Tom's voice was full of concern as he stepped closer to Sophie, but she stepped back and put her hands on her head to try and make the sounds of Danny's voice get out of her head.

"I can't stay here; I have to go he will be waiting"

"Who will be waiting? Danny?" Sophie nodded and the tears ran down her face, her heart pounding against her chest with every word.

"Tom he has a gun and if I don't go he will sue it, I can't let anything happen to you"

"Soph he is bluffing, he doesn't have it in him"

Sophie couldn't help but smirk; she knew what he was like. "He does, he really does" Sophie turned to face Tom. "He and Ryan were driving the car and lorry that killed mum and dad, all because I told Kevin about what they did to me. And if I don't go with him now he will hurt you and I can't let that happen"

Tom eyes filled with anger and fear, he knew that Ryan was capable of a lot of things but he never thought he would be able to murder his own parents. "So what? You're going to go with Danny and let him punch you and kick you until you can't breathe anymore?" Sophie looked at him confused. "Soph I know you"

"So I stay here and he shoots you or anyone else? I don't have the choice Tom"

"You do, phone the police now and he won't take you anywhere" Tom handed Sophie his phone and she dialled the number, her hands violently shaking and her mouth had turned dry she glanced at Tom who smiled at her and suddenly all the fear she had ever been faced with poured out of her body.

Sophie told the police everything and she handed Tom his phone back her hands still shaking, she was staring at the ground trying to control her breathing. Tom stepped over to Sophie and she instantly fell into him, he wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin onto her head as she closed her eyes and finally felt safe. Tom spoke calmly into her hair. "You're safe now, don't worry"

Tom and Sophie were standing in the corridor, Sophie ignoring the pain that she was being faced with as Tom wrapped his arms around her but she didn't mind it she had Tom back, the only family she had left. Suddenly a cry of terror filled the school, Sophie and Tom both looked at each other their eyes filled fear as they thought of the worst. "Tom what is that's, it can't be" Sophie's words were disjointed and her eyes were darting around the room.

"Soph calm down, just stay here" Tom had hold on Sophie's shoulders looking into her eyes, she nodded and he quickly turned around and ran towards the screams. Sophie was standing there for a few moments until she heard the sound of Danny's voice calling her name. She didn't think she just ran, she couldn't let anyone else get hurt.

Tom ran down the corridor and swing the door open into the front corridor, he froze as he was faced with Danny holding a gun to Nikki's head as she was forced to kneel on the ground. Tom quickly turned as he saw Sophie standing next to him. "Soph I told you to stay there" Tom was speaking quietly but Danny turned.

Sophie watched as the ex-army teacher had beads of sweat forming on her forehead, her chocolate brown hair sticking to her head, her eyes filled with fear and tears and her whole body was shaking. Sophie could see that she was trying to speak but she was unable to, her whole body was paralyzed as Danny gripped her hair. Sophie's eyes widened as Nikki's caught hers. Tom stood forward and held out his arm towards Danny and Nikki. "Come on mate, don't do anything stupid" He spoke in the calmest voice possible but it was still shaky.

Sophie walked closer to Danny and moved her eyes from Nikki's to his, she tried her hardest to hide her fear and hold back her tears. She could see Tom in the corner of her eye become tense as she stepped closer and closer to Danny. "Danny, why are you doing this I am here aren't I? Come on this is stupid"

Danny wasn't afraid, he knew he was in control and he loved it. He smirked to himself as he watched everyone in the room become paralyzed with fear as he looked at each of them. "I told you to come here at the end of lunch, or someone would get hurt"

Sophie took a deep breath of fear through her nose, she tried to keep calm and control her fear but it was becoming near to impossible as his grip got tighter on Nikki's hair. "But I am here now; come on Danny let her go please"

Danny smirked as Sophie became more and more uncomfortable, he looked down at Nikki who had her eyes forced shut and she was breathing erratically. "Oh is little Sophie Taylor afraid someone else gets killed because of her? First your parents and now her"

"No come on Danny, please" Sophie stepped closer to Danny and the entire room gasped as she got nearer and nearer to them. "I will go with you right now and I will never scream, shout or fight back again. I will never speak to anyone every again, it will be me and you just how you want it. Please Danny let her go" Tears were streaming down her face and her throat became dry and her voice was shaken.

Danny clenched his jaw and pushed Nikki forward by her head and she fell to the ground, everyone in the room let out a sigh of relief as Danny stepped back. Tom ran forward to Nikki and helped her up and walked her over to one of the cushioned seats as she put her weight onto Tom. Sophie caught Tom's eyes as she stood by the door; he sent her a worried look as they couldn't hear any sirens. Danny paced the floor and put his hands on his head, still holding the gun.

Finally the sirens filled everyone's ears; Danny was facing outside onto the yard as the police cats filled the school grounds, his eyes widened and his voice turned angry and panic filled. "Who called the police?"

Sophie stepped forward and spoke loud and confidently. "I did"

Danny didn't turn around he just rose his hand and pulled the trigger to the gun towards the voice. The sound of the gunfire filled the air, it sounded like a small explosion. Everything turned into slow motion as the bullet shot through the air and tore the skin of Sophie's stomach. Sophie fell to the ground clenching her side as the blood oozed out of her, her once white blouse quickly turned red, blood red. Tom's eyes widened as his eyes shot over to Sophie, he jumped up from the chair and ran over to Sophie he fell to the ground and pulled Sophie up to his body the tears running down his face.

Sophie was barely alive, her eyes kept fluttering between open and closed. Tom's vision was blurred from his tears and he was pleading with Sophie. "Please, Soph don't die. Please Soph speak to me"

Sophie's hand had a tight grip around Tom's arm; she was crunching his shirt as she tried to stop the pain. She opened her eyes and started into Tom's. "Tell Boston I am sorry"

"I will Soph, just stay with me please, I need you"

"T-Tom?" Sophie's grip was getting looser on his shirt; Tom was still holding Sophie close to him, letting his tears fall onto her face. He brought her closer to him as she said his name. "I am sorry for everything. I love you Tom Clarkson, don't forget that"

"I love you too Sophie Taylor, you're my family" Sophie's eyes fluttered shut, her mouth parted slightly as the life in her body left her behind in a matter of seconds. Tom's eyes widened as hers closed, she became weak and Tom pulled her close to him resting her head in his arms as he rested his forehead into hers. He let the tears fall down her face as he kissed her forehead before the paramedics took her away. He remained still on the ground watching as the carried her away, his shirt was covered in blood and it was sticking to his skin.

-x-

Tom was sitting on the steps outside of the school, night had taken over and the streetlights made the rain shin. Tom was staring at the ground as he held the picture that was on his desk, he jumped slightly as Nikki came and sat down next to him. He sniffed his tears away quickly and tried to divert his eyes from Nikki's. "I am so sorry Tom; I know how much she meant to you"

Tom ignored Nikki's comment and looked at Nikki. "Are you alright Nik?"

"Yeah I am fine" Nikki's voice was shaking and her hands were clenched and they was shaking slightly, her head was slightly cut to where the gun was being held against her but she wasn't thinking about that right now.

"Nik she told me, just before she um…died that she is sorry"

Nikki shook her head slightly; she couldn't believe that when she was dying she was thinking about someone else. "She had nothing to be sorry for. It was Danny, I should have done something earlier and none of this would have happened"

"No you weren't to know" Tom shook his head and put his head into his hands, Nikki rested her hand onto his shoulder. "I've let Sophie down and her parents they told me to look after her, I didn't she is dead and this is all my fault"

"No Tom, this isn't your fault this is nobody's fault apart from Danny's"

Tom nodded and looked up from his hands and stared out at the yard. "I guess there are just certain things I chose to ignore"


End file.
